It's Just A Bar, Right?
by JessAlmasy
Summary: After leaving NYADA, Kurt finds himself working in a bar with the last people he'd ever dreamed of. He'd known he was making a mistake since he first walked in the door, but he'd had no idea what he was getting himself into, or where it would lead. AKA: The CoyoteUgly!Glee story that never should have been written.
1. Chapter 1

**I know I've said this before, but this story really is 100% my husband's fault. I made a random joke and he not only took it and ran away with it, he stole it, refused to give it back, taunted me with it and then smothered me with it like a pillow while I slept.**

 **The story is _very_ loosely based off of Coyote Ugly. I tried to keep the past mostly canon, except Kurt and Blaine never got back together after he cheated in Season 4.**

* * *

As Kurt made his way to the back of the room, he tried to think of any last minute alternatives that he just hadn't considered yet. It takes about ten minutes before he manages to shift his way around all the people and he finally has to admit that any other options had been tried and had failed. He really has to do this. Damn.

He'd lucked out. As Kurt steps up to the scarred wooden bar, he comes almost directly face to face with the only person that works there that wouldn't make him want to run away, Elliot.

"Kurt! Hi, buddy! What are you doing here? I thought you didn't approve of 'such establishments'?" Elliot just looks curious, not mocking or snide. Kurt still doesn't understand how this lovely jersey boy is making it in this city without growing callous.

"Hey, sweetie. I can't really talk at the moment. I need to speak with..." _Don't insult him, you know he's probably hiding, waiting to pop up or something._ "...your manager. Any clue where he is?"

Elliot just smiles and nods back toward the other end of the bar. Kurt turns to look but it's so overrun and crowded that he can't even see past the people to the other side. And the bar isn't curved. Jesus.

Nodding, Kurt thanks him and signals that he'll talk to him later. Pulling away from the masses a bit, Kurt goes around the main clump of bodies, hoping to slide up along the wall. As he gets closer though, he realizes that isn't going to happen. Finally fed up, Kurt throws up his bitchface and ice shields and starts bodily pushing his way through the crowd.

By the time he makes it back to the front, he's half tempted to just jump the bar to talk to him... how will he even hear Kurt over this noise? Instead he stands and grips the rounded edge, waiting to be noticed. When the asshole finally turns to him, he's clearly expecting a customer. His cocky grin drops immediately and Kurt is left flushing in embarrassment at the cruel smirk aimed at him before Sebastian turns away and gestures to the next patron without asking Kurt what he wants.

Huffing out, Kurt leans over as much as he can and calls out, "I need to talk to you!"

Sebastian doesn't even glance at him, just yells back, "I'm working. Come back tomorrow. Or never."

Kurt glares at him, "Let me rephrase. I'm **going** talk to you. I've already cleared it with Blaine, so you should know already that you can't win."

Sebastian scowls, trying to figure out what Kurt could possibly want and why he would go over his head to Blaine without coming there first. While he's still trying to figure it out, Kurt hears stomping and looks up to find Sam Evans grinning down at him, kitted out in skimpy leather biker gear. _Dear god, who told him it was okay to wear that?_

"Kurt! El told me you were here! Get your ass up here and dance with me!"

Kurt shakes his head, smiling, "No way in hell."

Sam adopts a sad puppy look, "Come on! We used to dance together all the time!"

Kurt crosses his arms, huffing. "Dancing and singing alone in my room is not the same as crawling up **there**. Plus there's no hairbrushes to sing into. Not happening, Sam."

Before Sam can respond, Sebastian replies, in a voice dripping with acid, "Oh, you **have** to be shitting me. Tell me you two didn't prance around in your pajamas having pillow fights and singing Motown songs. Where the fuck was Finn? Didn't he stop you? Or take pictures for blackmail?"

Sam smiles widely, "That's why I hung out with Kurt. Finn was always getting dragged around by Rachel back then. And shut up. It's not like we braided each other's hair." Ignoring the mumbled, "It wasn't long enough..." Kurt turns back to Sebastian,

"Anyway, what I was saying is, I've already talked to Blaine about this. He agreed to hire me. He said to just come down on Friday, that you'd be busy and could use the help. He said he'd leave you a message... I guess you didn't get it?"

Glaring at Kurt again, Sebastian calls out, "No. I haven't checked my messages in a couple days, my phone died yesterday."

Kurt just blinks at him. "It died. **Yesterday**. Of what?"

A shrug, "Needs charged I guess. Couldn't find the charger, so I said fuck it."

Kurt looks outraged, "You run a business, Sebastian! You have to have your phone charged and usable!"

Another shrug, "Why? It happens all the time. I don't really need it, everyone knows where to find me."

Kurt huffs, "Maybe to avoid exactly **this** situation?!"

"Honestly, Sister Maria, this is not a situation I could have prepared myself for no matter how charged my phone was. I thought you looked down on the professions you find beneath you and us mere mortals who work them? And what the ever loving shit do you mean he agreed to hire you? To do what? We don't need someone to knit us tea cozies and sneer at us."

Sam cuts in, still grinning, "Yeah, we prefer whiskey and Seb has the market cornered on sneering."

Sebastian doesn't even glance at Sam, just says, "Don't you have an ass to shake or something? Go away, Sam." After the blonde winks and dances away, Seb turns back to Kurt. "Seriously, what are you doing here? There's no way in hell you actually want to work here."

Scoffing, Kurt leans forward. "Of course not, I just don't have a choice. I'll explain it later. I was under the impression you needed help now, and like I said, I've already talked to Blaine about it."

Seb glares before finally shrugging. "Fine. Whatever. Just get down there and help get Elliot out of the weeds."

Kurt grips the bar tighter, breathing out a heavy sigh. _And thus begins my downfall._

He hops over the bar and walks down toward Elliot. "Hey, hun. I hear you need some help?"

After just a few blinks, El smiles at Kurt before gesturing to the crowd of people clamoring for attention and calls out, "Okay everybody listen up! This is a new guy! He's here to help, so if you have a very simple order, he's got ya, otherwise, stick with me kids."

Kurt rolls his sleeves up quickly, having left his coat with the bouncer, and asks the first guy, "So what will it be, hun?"

* * *

An hour later, the crowd finally thins out enough that Kurt can stop and take a good look around for the first time since he walked in. Glancing to one end, he finds Seb still somewhat buried in drink orders and smirks a little. _Asshole. Hope he's stuck there all night._

Glancing in the other direction he sees that Sam is tending the bar station on that end and that Puck is the one dancing now. Kurt shakes his head and signals to Elliot that he's going to go check on Sam.

As he works his way down to the other end, he laughs or winks at the cat calls and comments thrown his way. _God, I can't believe I'm doing this. They better not be lying about the money they make or I'll kill them all bloody._

Coming up beside Sam, Kurt leans on the back counter running along the back wall and smiles at him. Before he can say anything though, Sam laughs. "Got him to cave, huh?"

"Nope. Went straight to the source. Sebby Bear didn't have a choice. Like I was going to come groveling to that asshole? Yeah, right."

Puck finally notices him and struts over with a smug grin. "Hey, Princess! What the hell are you doing here? **Especially** behind the bar? Our fearless leader will never shut up if he sees you back there."

Kurt snorts, "Well, he better get used to it. I'm the new guy. Go easy on me." Kurt sends him an over the top wink, hoping to make the former bully uncomfortable. He really should have known better.

Puck just laughs, "Oh, no way. What happened that made you actually 'sink this low'?"

Kurt sniffs. "I'll talk to you guys later, just do me a favor and save all texts and exclamations until after I get a chance to talk to everyone? At least until after we finish the shift."

They nod before Puck turns to Sam, "Okay, dude. Your turn up here, let me make some tips."

Sam laughs and grabs his leather hat, jumping back up on the bar. After the cheers die down, he turns back around. "Okay, seriously man, get up here with me."

Kurt glares. "No way. I'm like Elliot. I don't dance."

Sam scoffs. "Bullshit. Elliot is religious, and a good person. You're neither. And I've seen you dance at clubs. Get your fine ass up here." When all Kurt does is continue glaring at him, Sam concedes. "Okay, fine. I guess Seb was right about you. You are just a prude, huh, Maria?"

As Sam turns to strut away, Kurt snaps. _Oh, fuck that. If I'm going to work here, I might as well get the best tips I can. And fuck Sebastian Smythe and his opinions._

Calling out, Kurt reaches up to Sam, "Okay, Trouty, help me up." As soon as he takes his hand, Kurt puts a foot up to the bar and gets a rather unnecessary boost from behind. The first thing he does is turn to glare at Puck. "Keep your hands off my ass, Noah. I trust that 'I'm straight' excuse less and less every day you work here."

Seeing nothing but a smug grin from Puck as he continues to tend the bar, Kurt turns back to Sam to see him already dancing close by, winking at his 'fans'. Quickly figuring out that he wasn't going to attempt the hip rolls and shimmies that he hadn't really done since high school, Kurt reaches out to grab Sam as a song starts.

He recognizes it right away. 'Dynamite' by Taio Cruz. He leans close and speaks only loud enough for the blonde to hear him, "I can't do that shit without practice, just dance with me?"

Sam's smile couldn't be wider without breaking something. "Sure, babe!"

It takes Kurt a little bit to warm up, but luckily so does the song. By the time it really picks up, Kurt is smiling widely and trying to ignore all the guys watching them dance.

Despite knowing everyone that currently works in the bar, Kurt hadn't spent much time here. He doesn't really know how they usually act. He's just dancing and hoping everyone will take it as him being new if it's not the right way. If it earns him the blushing virgin persona, well, maybe that's for the best. At least then everyone wouldn't be expecting him to slut it up too much.

Sam seems more than willing to ease him into the life of a bar dancer, keeping his distance and only letting his hands drift down to his ass once. Apparently he's alone in his patience.

As the song winds down, Kurt almost groans aloud at the transition into 'Rude Boy' by Rihanna. _You have to be shitting me._

Turning to the bar, the first thing he sees is Sebastian smirking at him. Before Kurt can do more than glance at him, Sam leans in. "Prove him wrong, dude. We both know this is you doing PG-13 at best."

Kurt turns to Sam and raises an eyebrow in question, silently asking how far he's willing to take it. All he gets is a wide smile. _Well, if you insist._

Kurt strips off his tight black vest, leaving him in only black skinny jeans and a very tailored purple dress shirt. He immediately grabs Sam by the back of the neck and one hip, pulling him in closer and rolling his body against him. Once Sam grips Kurt by the waist, Kurt moves his arms up to loosely drape them around his neck, swaying his hips and slowly moving closer to grind against Sam's crotch.

Sam recovers quickly, and moves his hands down to Kurt's ass, doing some of his stripper rolls against him, clearly playing it up for the crowd. Kurt closes his eyes and loses himself in the music.

When the song finally tapers off, he reopens his eyes to find himself pressed back against Sam's chest, grinding his ass on his hard-on. His face burns in embarrassment when he remembers that he isn't in the middle of a club but on full display for an entire bar full of people, most of which are now staring at him. _Shit._

Before he can really start to panic and figure out what the hell he was doing, Sam leans down and says, "Hell yeah, man! That's what I'm talkin' about! That oughta shut Seb up."

Kurt laughs and turns to press back against Sam, hoping to hide his own slight erection from everyone else. "So, it wasn't as embarrassing as it feels?"

Interrupting Sam's attempt to answer, Puck bangs a hand down on the bar, gesturing at them. "My turn, dude. If he's gonna dance like that, we're switching out every other number."

With a smirk at Kurt, Sam drops back down, and Puck climbs up, grabbing Kurt around the middle and dragging him further toward the middle of the bar where more people can see them. If it just happens to be that much closer to Sebastian, well, that's probably not why Puck looks so smug as the next song starts up.

 _Merely a coincidence._

* * *

As Kurt's first night dancing in a bar comes to a close, he drops down to lay on the slightly sticky surface of the scarred wood. Usually he would be appalled by his own actions, worried about his clothes, but honestly? Right now he couldn't give a shit. He just really wanted to lay down. Possibly forever.

After hearing the bouncer boot out the last guys and chain the door, Kurt glances over at the familiar face and smiles at him.

"Hey, Dave? Can you grab me something to drink? I seem to have forgotten how to move."

David Karofsky chuckles and moves back behind the bar, grabbing a bottle of water and handing it to Kurt, knowing better than to toss it. On a normal day, he might stand a chance of catching it, but not today.

Kurt groans as he reluctantly sits up, opening the water. As he crosses his legs and watches Sam and Puck count their combined tips, Kurt glances around, looking for Sebastian and Elliot. He really can't believe that this combination of his friends have ended up in New York, let alone working in the same bar.

Kurt blames Blaine. Which is normal, be blames Blaine for a lot of things. He blames Blaine for cheating on him less than a month after telling Kurt he **had** to leave Lima. He blames Blaine for making their friendship awkward for the first year, refusing to admit that they were over. He blames Blaine for following Kurt to New York even though they weren't together anymore. He blames Blaine for allowing Sebastian fucking Smythe to crash on his couch for months after they'd graduated high school, apparently that being 'the only place he could go' for fuck knows what reason. And he blames Blaine for opening this damned bar in the first place.

When Blaine had first told him, in between classes at NYADA, where Kurt had to see him and play nice every fucking day, that he was opening a bar with Sebastian, Kurt had laughed. He'd assumed Blaine was kidding. Except Kurt's still waiting on the punchline. It's now been almost two years since that fateful conversation and well over a year since it opened.

Blaine had used his trust fund to buy and furnish the place, and hired Sebastian to manage it, so he could focus on school. Kurt was surprised and confused that Sebastian had signed up for such a low class job. Surely he's in school too, right? How he managed classes and running a bar, Kurt had no idea. He didn't care enough to ask.

Of course as soon as Sam had heard what his new bestie was up to, he'd moved to New York, dragging Puck along, and crashed on Kurt's couch until they could save up for their own place. It had taken a surprisingly short time for them to move out. Blaine had probably been paying them extra back then to cover for the tips they weren't making yet. Kurt had, again, not asked. It wasn't his business, as long as the ex-Titans got off his futon, he didn't question it.

It had been Sebastian that had talked Dave into working there as the bouncer. Apparently, Seb had felt so bad about what he'd said to David that he'd visited him in the hospital, and that had spawned a friendship neither had seen coming. So when Sebastian had moved, he'd kept in touch with Dave. After an injury playing football at the beginning of David's sophomore year, he'd lost his scholarship. Faced with the choice of couch surfing with friends or moving back in with his dad, David had relocated to New York and was now roommates with Seb.

Thanks to a high GPA, especially for an athlete, and the fact that he was already a sophomore, Dave had managed to transfer to a college in New York. It wasn't as high profile as his previous school, but they had a great financial aid program.

As for Elliot, Blaine had actually approached him, stating that he was hot, gay, and trustworthy, and would he like to be a bartender? Apparently, Elliot was easy to convince, as long as he didn't have to actually dance on the bar.

And now there was Kurt. He'd known about the bar from the beginning but had mostly avoided it. He'd been called to pinch hit a few times when one of the guys was sick but he was always like Elliot. Strictly serving drinks. He's unimpressed that he's already been convinced to dance... he'd caved during his first shift. _Oh, this was a terrible idea._

Sam pops up, holding all of their tips, evenly distributed and wrapped with rubber bands. As he walks over and presses Kurt's share into his palm, Kurt tries to focus on the money and not the sense that he's doing something he should be ashamed of. It's not like he's stripping or whoring himself... and he'd never looked down on Sam when he actually **had** stripped.

Kurt coughs, glancing at the stack of bills. "So... how much did we make?"

Sam yells out from behind the bar where he's grabbing his jacket. He'd already changed into his street clothes. "Over $500 each, dude. Love this job."

Frowning, Kurt turns to Puck, still kitted out in cheap biker gear. "Okay, though, seriously... what's with the clothes? I get that you guys are matching up, but who the hell picked bikers? I am **not** wearing that."

Puck grins, "Take that up with Seb, Princess. I'm pretty sure he and Blaine came up with the 'costumes' or whatever."

Kurt glares at Puck for a few seconds before huffing. After glancing around, he sees that Seb is no where to be found. "Where is the smirky asshole anyway? I really should talk to him before the next shift."

Dave shrugs, throwing away the last of the empty bottles and moving over to grab their coats, Puck having darted into the bathroom to change. "He left while they were still counting, he doesn't take a cut or anything, if that's what has you worried. You keep the tips you make. Hell, he doesn't even force Puck and Sam to consolidate, and they didn't with John. It's a fairness with friends thing."

Sidetracked, Kurt asks, "Oh yeah, I forgot about that guy."

Dave just nods, handing Kurt his vest, black peacoat, and heavy scarf. "Yeah... well, that's probably for the best. He had a run in with a customer. Apparently he hadn't explained to his boyfriend what **exactly** he meant by 'I work in a bar'. Dude came to surprise him at work and ended up breaking a regular's nose. Seb fired him on the spot. Nothing is worth that drama."

Kurt snorts. _Jesus. If you're going to work in a place like this, the least you can do is warn your family and friends. Poor 'boyfriend'. I can't imagine dating someone and finding out they were doing this. I'd dump him just for keeping this shit hidden. At least be honest about it._

"Okay, well, cautionary tales aside, I need to talk to Sebastian. Since he can't be deigned to charge his fucking phone, can you tell him I'll come by about noon to talk to him tomorrow?"

Dave nods, "Sure. He's usually here to restock and clean up a bit anyway." When Kurt just nods and continues to re-layer himself, Dave glances at Sam and then at Puck when he walks back in before finally asking, "Okay. So seriously, what the hell happened? Why are you here, Fancy?"

Sam speaks up. "Yeah, you could hardly stand working the bar before, what changed?"

Kurt winces, wrapping his scarf around his neck and looking from face to face. He knew he wouldn't be able to get away with not telling them for long. He should have just bailed as soon as Sam handed over his tips. With a sigh, Kurt crosses his arms and picks a spot on the floor to glare at.

"Well... you know the winter showcase at NYADA is coming up?" Kurt watches as they all nod, Blaine had been gushing about it for weeks, hoping he'd be chosen this year. Kurt goes back to staring at his spot on ground. "I was picked."

All of the guys make noises like they are going to congratulate him but Kurt just winces again.

"I turned it down." Kurt is met with dead silence. _Well, that's familiar, at least._ He'd gotten the same silence from both Rachel and Blaine when they'd found out. Carmen Tibideaux had been a little more... verbose.

After Rachel's crash and burn their sophomore year, Kurt had been feeling unsettled at NYADA. It had been so easy for everyone to sit back and judge her for her poor decisions, calling her flaky and unprofessional, but Kurt had wondered. What would he have done in the same position? Is he going to end up just like her? Working his whole life for a goal that he decides in an instant that he no longer wants?

Here he was, killing himself, and burying himself in debt, to go to an overpriced school that taught him things that he either mostly already knew or that he could pick up in classes at the YMCA. And for what? 'To become a star on Broadway'? And then what? He was going to spend years of his life playing the same role? The same thing over and over again? Almost everyday, sometimes multiple times a day, for years?

He'd barely survived Dalton and the Blazers of Doom for a few months, how would he handle the same play for longer than a month or two? And what if he needed time off? What if his dad got sick again or something happened to Finn? Or Carole? He wouldn't be able to go visit without missing shows.

When Kurt had realized that he wouldn't make it, that he'd tank his career the same way Rachel had, he'd pulled himself from NYADA. He couldn't stay there and waste money on something he wasn't sure would even become his profession. He could have stayed through until graduation, true. He was a senior, he could have finished this semester and next, and been done... but he'd have wasted another year. And for what?

So he'd stopped. He'd dropped his classes, sworn the hobbits to silence, and gone job hunting. He'd had to leave VogueDotcom years ago, much to his disappointment. He'd loved it there, but he needed a job that actually earned him money. Now even more so.

After pointless searching for weeks, and not finding anything above minimum wage, he'd resigned himself. Blaine had tried to get Kurt to consider working weekends at the bar for months, Kurt had always scoffed at the idea. Now, the sad reality is that if he doesn't have his student loans, he's not going to be able to afford rent.

The silence is finally broken by Puck, who says, "Dude... what?"

Sighing, Kurt looks up to them and states plainly, "I'm not going into it guys. Just know that I dropped out of NYADA and I'll be working here as much as I can. I need the money. Anyone in my family finds out that I'm working here, I'm coming after you guys with cuticle scissors." Kurt turns to Dave, "Be sure to pass that message on to the meerkat."

Sam grimaces, "Those are the tiny ones, right?"

"Yes, sweetie. It would take awhile to cut anything off, but I'm dedicated. I'll tell my dad next time I see him but I think we can all agree that Finn finding out would be a major problem. Which means Rachel can't find out either."

After receiving nods from the former jocks, Kurt smiles and heads for the door, tossing over his shoulder, "Great! See you guys tomorrow."


	2. Chapter 2

The next day when Kurt gets to the bar, the sign reading "The Wolves' Deception" is unlit and the door is still bolted and chained. _Fuck. I should have known he wouldn't take this seriously. Now what the hell do I do?_

When Kurt turns and leans back against the door with a huff, reaching for his phone, the door rattles. He almost drops the phone in shock when he hears a voice yell out, "Who's there?"

Kurt stands up straight, looking around. He quickly spots a staircase leading down into what appears to be a storage area, only then noticing that the boxes littered outside the door aren't dirty, and are clearly filled with booze.

Kurt yells out, "It's me, Sebastian. I **still** need to talk to you."

A groan from down the stairs is shortly followed by, "Damn. I was hoping I was hallucinating last night and that you were a bad dream or something. Grab a box and get your ass down here then, but a small box. I can't afford for you to break a whole case."

Kurt glares before grabbing one of the heaviest looking boxes, quickly regretting it. _Shit. Don't drop it. Don't drop it. Where's Dave when you need him?_

As soon as Kurt makes it down the stairs he tries to nonchalantly put the box down near the door, hiding his wince. When he looks back up all he sees is Sebastian glaring at him before moving over to check the box over. Once confirming Kurt hadn't somehow silently dropped it and broken all the booze in the time it took to make it down the stairs, Seb huffs.

"What do you want?"

Kurt bites back a growl. "Why are you being such an asshole? I haven't said more than ten words to you in years. Please tell me you aren't still pissed off over stupid high school shit. I don't have the time for that kind of childish stupidity."

Sebastian just blinks at him slowly before saying, "You said you wanted to talk. Did you really come down here and interrupt my work to bitch about my attitude? I didn't know you cared."

"Of course not! But if we're going to work together, we need to not be biting each others' heads off. For one thing, you never told me anything about the place. I don't even know what time I'm supposed to be here tonight. I've always just come in when it got swamped."

Sebastian rolls a shoulder before turning his back on Kurt, moving to the back of the room. "Whatever. Be here by 7pm and you'll get off work at 3am, Thursday through Monday. You'll only be minimum wage at first, but as you've probably noticed, you'll get your money from tips, which are yours to keep or split with Puck and Sam. Considering they actually know what they're doing, I'd split it if I were you."

Kurt just glares but refuses to comment. "Fine. Now about those stupid costumes... there's no way in hell I'm wearing a cheap biker outfit. God only knows what other gems I have to look forward to. If you give me some... themes, or whatever, to work with, and some time, I'll make my own versions that are more... acceptable to me."

Sebastian rolls his eyes, grabbing and moving another box and stacking it. "Whatever, Your Highness. Each night we have a basic idea we work around, sometimes we switch it up, but there's a chart upstairs to tell you what to wear what night. The ones I remember are the biker you saw last night, a fireman, a cop, a construction worker-"

"Oh my god. Did you resurrect **all** of the Village People?" At Sebastian's snort, Kurt insists, "Seriously, you guys couldn't figure out something sexy without going full out stripper cliché?"

Seb shrugs, moving back toward the staircase. "Wasn't really our main concern. The tips prove that no one seems to care. Sorry if it's not to your **tastes**."

"Oh shut up. It's not about my tastes, it's about the level of thought and effort you put in. Why not just let us all wear what we want as long as it's 'sexy'?" Kurt glares at the back of his head. _The asshole isn't even paying attention._ "Ya know what, fine. Whatever. I'll check the chart tonight and start making something that suits that I would be caught dead in."

Seb shrugs again, moving back up the stairs. After a few seconds of debate, Kurt stomps after him. "What else do I need to know?"

Grabbing a heavy box, Sebastian moves past him, calling out as he goes down, "Those moves you pulled last night were fine enough for what they were, but you'll need to actually learn how to dance on a bar. Sam and Puck can teach you some in the lulls tonight, so come early. Just don't show up dressed as a nun."

Kurt comes down the stairs with another box. He bites his tongue, refusing to comment on the dirty joke his childish mind wants to make or the insinuation that he doesn't dress hot enough for the meerkat. "Fine. What else?"

Seb turns to look at him, noting the slightly smaller size of box and smirking. "Bartending. You don't need a license, obviously, but you will need to learn the drinks. You can't keep running to one of us when you don't know something. Get a book or something, shadow Elliot when you can, whatever. Just don't poison people and when in doubt, ask. Even if it's embarrassing, it's better than pissing off a customer or making someone sick when they didn't want to be."

Kurt just nods. He'd figured he'd need to learn more, as proven last night, he doesn't really know the first thing about working here. The few times before, he'd worked maybe half a shift and had really just been on beers and whiskeys, anything simple.

Deciding that he should go before Sebastian remembers some other form of torture, Kurt sets the box down and then turns back to him. "Okay... that should be enough for now. I'll come by around six tonight and see if Sam or Noah is around. I'm not sure what the theme is for tonight but I'll just throw on something somewhat revealing, since according to you, it doesn't matter."

Seb just scoffs before turning to face Kurt. "My only real question is what the hell possessed you to come here? I figured you'd run back to Ohio before 'stooping this low'."

Kurt just glares, stomping up the stairs again. "Shows how well you know me, doesn't it, Meerkat?"

* * *

That night, when Kurt rattles the door a few minutes before six, Puck lets him in with a smirk on his face. "Morning, Princess. Sleep well?"

Kurt scoffs, moving well away from the door before taking off his coat and accessories. It was only November, but he was already freezing. _It's gonna be a_ _ **long**_ _winter._

"You mean the four hours of sleep I got ten hours ago? Yeah. They were great." Kurt moves back behind the bar, stowing his outerwear near Elliot's station, figuring it would be the one that was never left unattended. He doesn't notice Puck's appraising look and cocked eyebrow.

"Got something to prove? You know he's not even up here yet, right?"

Kurt asks, confused, "What, the clothes? He told me not to dress like a nun, I didn't know what silly fucking costumes you guys would be wearing so I just dressed for a date."

"Really? That's what you wear on **dates**? How are you single?" Puck can't seem to stop smirking... or staring.

When Kurt turns around after making sure his coat is well hidden, he snaps, "Hey! Eyes up here! You're straight remember?"

"Whoa! You can't come in here in those pants and bend over and not expect people to look at your ass, Princess. And trust me, you don't have to be gay to appreciate that view. Now if that ass was attached to some lovelier, softer, parts... I would be able to do something about it. Alas, I'm just stuck with admiring from afar."

Kurt tugs his shirt down as much as he can and keeps his back turned away from the mohawked idiot he'd called a friend for over six years. "Great. I'm so glad I can keep you entertained with my ass. Can you please just show me some of the dance moves I'm supposed to learn. And when is Sam getting here? At least if I catch him staring, I'll know why."

Puck laughs, moving over to the radio on the back wall and finding a station. After landing on one a bit more classic rock than they usually play, Puck jumps up on the bar and waits for Kurt to join him.

Kurt uses the tiny footholds that had been built into the middle of the bar and steps up, grabbing Puck's hand when he almost falls down.

"Something else to work on, dude. Don't fall off the bar. We can't come get you if they haul you out into the middle thinking it was a stage dive. Well, Dave could, but let's not make him work extra."

Kurt glares, crossing his arms over his chest. "You're hilarious. Really, I couldn't be more impressed with this lesson already."

Puck just laughs and waits for the next song to start. As Kurt works his way through the next half an hour of 'lessons' he's strongly reminded of the week Sam had come back from Kentucky. He'd tried to teach all of them moves that he thought would win them sectionals. The resulting fight had been tense and unnecessary.

 _Wonder where this falls on Blaine's moral compass? His tune sure has changed. Well, maybe not. He's not dancing on the bar. So, what?_ _ **He's**_ _not for sale, he's just the auctioneer? I'm still not really sure how this place came to be. Did Blaine just wake up one day and say, 'Oh, hey! I think I'll open a bar today!' And then just not have anything to do with it? He was around when everything was being set up, and he paid for everything, obviously, but he doesn't come here... he's sure as hell never_ _ **worked**_ _here._

Sam comes in just as Puck is telling Kurt that what he really needs is another booty camp.

"Nothing wrong with his booty from where I'm standing." Sam takes off his coat, hanging it up on the hook by a liquor cabinet. When Kurt glances over at him, he groans.

"No. Come on, guys! Tell me you have better standards than this!"

Sam just laughs putting his hat on. "Sorry, man. We just wear what they tell us to."

Puck grins before saying, "On that note, I need to go change."

"Maybe we can spend the night arresting Kurt here for indecent exposure or something. Seriously? Those pants?" Sam shakes his head a little as he hops up and then walks down the bar. "Okay, so speaking of booty camp, I'm gonna teach you how to utilize that thing a bit more."

Heaving a sigh, Kurt turns to Sam, "Fine. But if Noah comes back in here singing 'Shake Your Ass', we'll still be down a dancer and you'll have to help me hide a body."

* * *

Kurt leans back on his hands, watching as Dave closes the door behind the stragglers from last call and debates whether he should stick around for a few minutes or escape the way he'd regretted not doing yesterday.

If Sebastian had run off as quickly as he had the night before, he might be tempted to ask everyone out for coffee or something to wind down. Since Seb is still there, wiping down the bar one more time, Kurt hops down off of it and goes to collect his stuff.

This time when Sam passes his share of the tips over, Kurt just smiles at him and shoves it in his pocket, throwing on his scarf and heading for the door. "Okay guys, I'll see ya tomorrow!"

Kurt almost rams face first into the door when Sebastian calls out, "Hey, wait a sec."

Slowly turning to face him, Kurt cocks an eyebrow and his hip and says, "Yes?"

Sebastian scowls at him. "Tomorrow, you need to wear something that matches Puck and Sam. You were lucky today was cops, so they could play it off, but really, that shit won't work everyday."

"Two things, meerkat. One, you didn't tell me last night or even this afternoon what they were dressing as so I couldn't have matched it. So today would have been on you. And two, I actually had a thought about the whole 'costumes' concept."

Groaning, Sebastian leans forward on the bar. "Oh god. What now?"

Kurt glares at him before moving to sit on an already cleaned section, crossing his legs. "Well, I think we can all agree that Sam, Puck, and I all have a very different body type. I may have picked up a bit more bulk but it's still no where near Sam's obsessive need to chisel his abs or Noah's worship of his own arms."

Sam, Puck, and Dave all move closer to sit or lean nearby, listening. Seb just stares at him blankly before replying, "Well, no shit, Nancy Drew."

Kurt glares but doesn't otherwise acknowledge him. "Is it really going to do anyone any favors if I dress the same way they do? If they have Sam's and Noah's muscles on display, wearing whatever it is they wear for construction, who's going to be checking me out by comparison?"

Sam clearly wants to interrupt, thinking Kurt is putting himself down so Kurt is quick to reassure him, "Sweetie, it's not that I don't think I'm attractive enough, I just call it like I see it. I'm not ashamed of my body, and I wouldn't kick someone who looks like I do out of bed, I just can't compare to you guys in muscle definition."

Seeing Sam and Puck nod slightly, like they're still afraid of hurting his feelings, Kurt rolls his eyes fondly and turns back to Sebastian.

Seb considers it for a minute before agreeing, "Alright, that's a good point. What do you want to do about it?"

Kurt grins, folding his hands on his knees. "Well, I still think that at least on two or three of the days, we should be allowed to dress in our own clothes, under the provision that we dress similar to how I did tonight." Seeing the disbelieving looks down at his fuzzy, overlarge scarf and his gloves, Kurt amends, "How I dressed to dance tonight. And obviously I wouldn't expect them to wear the same exact stuff, that would be weird on either of them. But I'm sure they could find their own take on how to dress sexy. Just imagine you're going on a date or to a club or something."

Sebastian looks to Sam and Puck. "Is that something you'd want to do? It's not like we're an actual strip club, and it was Blaine's idea to make you dress like that. Since he never comes in and I don't care, it's up to you guys."

Sam bites his lip before saying, "What if he does find out and doesn't like it?"

Sebastian shrugs, "Blame Kurt."

Puck and Dave laugh and Puck says, "Good point. It's not like he's been able to stand up to Kurt about anything since they broke up."

Kurt just smirks, "Well, with that settled, tomorrow I'll take you guys shopping and we can pick out some stuff. I'm sure you don't have enough, since I'm not sure I do either." When they just nod, Kurt continues. "The other idea I had was that if they are going to go for the muscled, ex-jock, meathead look, I could do an accompanying nerdy/polished look. Something that fits my body type better."

Dave frowns, "What would you accompany construction workers with?"

Smiling, Kurt says, "Well, I could be an architect, the job foreman, or just the client. I could wear douchey popped collars and Dockers." Kurt ends his statement giving Sebastian a very pointed look.

Sam cuts in, "I vote architect! I'm not sure you could pull off Seb's douchey look, but nerding it up with a suit and glasses? Hell yeah."

Kurt snorts, "Okay, that's fine with me. Architect it is. The fireman we should do away with completely, it's too cliché. Cop too, really. But I did come up with two replacement ideas." Kurt turns away from Sebastian, facing Puck and Sam. "We could totally take a stroll down memory lane. You two could wear football jerseys and I could find a male cheerleader uniform."

Kurt's surprised when it's Dave that responds, "Oh wow. Yeah, that's an awesome idea. You in that uniform..."

Kurt blushes. They don't really talk about the long dead crush Dave had on Kurt back in high school. _And this is why._ "Anyway..." Kurt coughs.

Sebastian just smirks at Dave, "Sure. I'll take your word on that. Whatever you guys want to do, I don't care. It'll be Kurt's fault."

Ignoring Sebastian, Kurt says, "The other idea I had was from junior year. Remember when Ms. Holiday helped us mash up 'Singin In The Rain' and 'Umbrella'? I'd like to have outfits based on that without the shirts. It's still pretty cliché but it's not on the level of firemen."

Puck grins, "Imagine if we did the whole thing? With the water? Dudes would flip their shit."

Kurt laughs, "As much fun as that would be, I'd be the only one able to sing the Rihanna parts, hardly seems fair."

Scoffing, Sebastian says, "No way. This is a bar, not a hotel lounge. No singing. The water thing maybe, though."

Kurt glares at him. "What's wrong with singing? Who knows, maybe we'd make even better tips? Isn't making money the whole point?"

"No one is going to pay to hear you belting out Rihanna. Save it for your shower."

Kurt's eyes narrow, "Everyone that works in this damn place can sing more than well enough for drunk idiots to appreciate, even Dave."

Dave's arms fly up defensively, "Oh hell no. Leave me out of this. I stand at the door and pretend I'm wearing a beret."

Kurt giggles. "Oh, hun. No one misses that beret. I'm not sure why you thought the best way to hide your sexuality was to wear a red beret and walk the gay kid to class, but you were wrong."

Ignoring Dave's mutters of 'fuckin Santana, never should have-' Sebastian cuts him off.

"On that note, I'm out of here. You guys can decide all costuming decisions, just don't wrap yourselves in bed sheets or expose yourselves. We don't need real cops in here either."

As Kurt watches Sebastian go, he wonders what would happen if he did suddenly start singing one night. It would almost be worth it to piss Sebastian off. Too bad he can't afford to lose this job. Best not to stress it for no other reason than, 'he's a dick'.

"Okay, guys. Meet me for coffee tomorrow and then we'll go get some clothes and maybe some fabric. I'm going to make the business-type tops for the rain routine myself, so they fit our purpose a bit better."

After receiving nods from them, Kurt heads for the door again, walking backward to say,

"Too bad Elliot takes off early, he totally would have backed me up on the singing."

* * *

The first couple weeks take a lot of adjustment for Kurt. Just suddenly going from waking up early in the morning for classes to not going to bed until four or five am is disorienting enough without everything else that's changed.

The architect costume went over surprisingly well, as did the football and cheerleader uniforms. They actually get the best response from wearing their own clothes though. Kurt's theory on that is that the customers like to see parts of their personality a bit more, and they can get that through the clothing choices. Not that he's said as much to anyone else.

They'd all adopted a bar persona that reflected their own personality, or at least one aspect of it. Puck was the Straight Badass. At first Kurt was confused about why they admitted that Puck was straight. If he was working in a gay bar, shouldn't he pretend to be gay? But actually, he was the favorite for about half of the people in there. Between gay guys that liked a 'challenge' and the women that get dragged there by their friends, Puck never caught any hell for it. In fact it made the times he danced with Kurt or Sam that much more popular, for some reason.

Sam was the All American Boy. He played up the jock angle and when they dressed in their military outfits, he was the feature. He had the clean-cut quarterback look **down**.

Kurt was surprised that he wasn't immediately shoved into the 'Innocent Virgin' role. After he'd made a comment about it during a lull one night, Elliot had laughed at him.

"Yeah right! After your first night here and grinding your ass against Puck and Sam all night? Not likely. No one believes the virgin thing anymore, no matter how innocent you look at first."

Kurt had actually been slotted into the Ice Bitch role. Sometimes he played innocent for a while, especially if he was playing to a crowd of mostly new people, but it only took one person trying to take advantage of his 'naivety' for the Ice Bitch to surface. He was surprisingly popular with his bitchiness. He'd even overheard Dave telling Elliot that it was his 'hot as hell, ice-bitch attitude' that had caused Dave to out himself in high school. Kurt had politely decided to pretend not to hear that.

Elliot, Sebastian and Dave also had minor personas, which were really just themselves. Dave was the Overprotective Bear, Elliot was the Boy Next Door, and Sebastian was the Preppy Douchebag.

Kurt and Sebastian managed to play nice, mostly because they avoided each other. Elliot, Sam and sometimes Puck, all tried to convince Sebastian to let them try singing, at least once. Kurt had given up after the first night. He knew how pointless it was to try to talk to Sebastian about anything.

He could tell that a fight with Sebastian was brewing, because they'd never managed to spend time together and not tear each other apart. He just hoped they didn't make a scene when it happened.

* * *

It was Kurt's tenth night working at the Wolves' Deception that finally broke their tenuous truce. It was fairly busy for a weekday, and Kurt was still learning the bartending side of things. He was using the weekends to work on dance moves and the weekdays learning the drinks. He was no where near ready to spin bottles and shit, but he could make most of the regulars' drinks now. He was reaching up to grab an expensive bottle of scotch when Sebastian bumped into him from behind.

He quickly covers his head and ducks away, hearing a loud crash and feeling a splash on his legs, soaking his skinny jeans. After a few seconds to recover, he looks back at the scene and sees the scotch smashed on the floor and his favorite boots soaked.

He turns to Sebastian to throw a fit but before he can make more than a strangled grunt, Seb starts yelling.

"What the fuck are you doing, Betty?! That bottle costs over $300!"

Kurt sputters, "What am **I** doing?! You knocked into **me** , asshole! Watch where you're going!"

"If you weren't just standing around, I wouldn't have run into you! I assumed you would have moved already! We're too busy for this shit, clean that up!"

"Fuck you, Sebastian! You caused that mess! **You** clean it up!"

Seb glares at Kurt, "You were the one holding the damn thing before it went crashing to the floor, that makes it your fault. Now we're out $300! Give me one damned reason I shouldn't fire you right now!"

Before Kurt can unleash on him, Elliot swoops in out of nowhere. "Guys, can you deal with your sexual tension some other time? We're kinda swamped here."

Sebastian turns his glare on Elliot but just bites out, "Find a way to replace that bottle and I'll let this go, Gay Face."

After he storms away, back to his section, Elliot gives Kurt a pitying look and goes back to work. Kurt just huffs and heads off to find a mop.

* * *

Two hours later, the mob scene had ended, Kurt's pants had mostly dried, and Sebastian wouldn't stop glaring at him. They were still busy, so he hadn't made it back over to renew his threats but Kurt can tell he was serious about paying for the broken bottle.

 _Shit. I can't afford that much for a fucking bottle of scotch that_ _ **he**_ _caused me to break. Such bullshit._

Kurt is still watching Sebastian and trying to come up with an idea when a song starts. Kurt isn't completely clear on how the music works. He knows that for the most part it's just an iPod on shuffle, but there's a jukebox that's wired through the system so that if someone pays for it, it queues up behind the current song. When he hears 'Sexy Back' by Justin Timberlake start up, he sees Sebastian laughing and talking to a few of the guys hanging near the bar on his end.

He clearly knows them at least in passing because they make gestures to him and he starts to dance a little, behind the bar. Kurt's eyebrows fly up when he sees Sebastian does some of the more complicated body rolls and Sam's stripper moves. _What the fuck is that? Sebastian can dance?!_

It's not until more people start to turn to watch him that Sebastian stops and laughs, waving everyone off and moving down the bar to take orders again. Kurt gets an idea and leans up to yell up at Puck who's walking by.

Puck leans down and asks, "What's up, Princess?"

Kurt vaguely points down to the end. "Does Sebastian ever dance on the bar? I just saw him fucking around and he moves well. What the hell is going on?"

Puck laughs, "Nah. He used to... um, 'dance' every now and then, back when it was just me and Sam up here, but since we got more popular, there's always a third guy and he's needed more on the taps. A few of the die hard fans remember him though and constantly beg him to perform again."

Kurt just nods and Puck goes back to dancing. As another song starts, Kurt gets an idea and texts Dave, asking him to queue up a song on the jukebox for him, since it's not that far from his post at the door and it's not really safe for Kurt out there. He waits until he gets a return text telling him that it's done and it's up next before Kurt grabs the microphone and turns down the music a little. He jumps up on the bar and calls for attention. He waits until Seb pauses the song before continuing. _He's going to kill me._

"So, I'm just the new guy, but it's been brought to my attention that a select few people have missed a previous wolf up here." Kurt smiles at the looks of confusion on most of the customers, and the wide eyed look Puck sends him.

Clearly Puck figures out what he's doing because he immediately jumps down, not wanting to be associated with what's about to happen. Kurt just smirks at him before turning to Sebastian, cocking a hip out and raising an arm to point at him.

"Come on up here, Sebby! Your fans miss you!" Kurt gamely ignores the glare he receives from Sebastian and continues to egg him on, joined in by the guys close enough to Sebastian to be heard. Once the chants of 'Bas! Bas! Bas!' fill the entire bar, he can't ignore it and jumps up. When he makes his way over to Kurt, he turns to snap at him.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Kurt just smirks, "You said to replace the bottle. This is me replacing the bottle. If you don't think you can get the full $300, we can always try again tomorrow. Or better yet, Friday. Way more people."

Sebastian huffs and turns to Elliot telling him to go start the music back up. He growls low enough that only Kurt hears him, "As long as I don't have to dance to Britney Spears or Pussycat Dolls, I think I'll be fine, Maria."

Kurt just smirks, hearing the end of the song. He hops back down and moves to Seb's abandoned station in case someone decides to order instead of watching his 'performance'.

There had been a few times over the past few weeks that had made Kurt stop and realize that he really didn't know much about how the bar worked before he got there. This is another of those times. When he'd picked the song, he'd tried to think of something sexy and sung by a male, because like Seb had said, he really couldn't pull off a girl's song. He probably should have thought a bit harder about how he knew the song instead of just that it was about sex.

As 'Pony' by Ginuwine starts up, he sees Sebastian start to roll his body subtly. It's not until the singing starts and Sebastian pulls off his polo shirt, revealing a ribbed tank undershirt, that Kurt remembers where he'd heard it. Magic Mike. Shit.

Kurt tries to hide his horror as Sebastian moves down to the end of the bar furthest from Kurt, throwing his shirt to Sam. Sebastian grabs the pole at the end of the bar and starts to grind and roll against it and Kurt looks away, trying to remember how to breathe.

He watches as the guys nearby start taking out money and throwing it down on the bar. He's mildly confused until Sebastian starts to slowly crawl and dance his way back toward them. Kurt kind of wants to hide from the sexy spectacle taking place, but when Sebastian throws him a smirk, he knows Seb can tell he feels like he bit off more than he could chew.

Instead of hiding, Kurt leans back on the counter and watches as Sebastian takes off the 'wifebeater' and throws it behind him. Kurt catches it before it can hit him in the face and then drops it on the counter like it burned him. _How the fuck did I get into this? How did my life jump from taking classes on ballet and sword fights to watching Sebastian fucking Smythe thrust his hips five feet in front of my face?_

Kurt looks away to see what the other guys are doing only to see them all sitting or leaning on the counter like he is, none of them looking surprised. When Puck sees him looking, he gestures to Kurt who makes his way down there.

"So, when you said he used to perform... you meant this?" Kurt crosses his arms, refusing to turn and see why so many people just cheered. He also tries not to wonder why the customers nearby suddenly scramble, throwing more money on the bar, trying to tempt Seb back to this side.

Sam laughs. "Oh god. You didn't even know what you were asking him to do? We wondered, but when the song started, we assumed you had figured it out."

Kurt just shook his head. "Nope. I had no clue. Thought he just danced the way we do. What the hell started him doing this?"

Sam smiles, "Stripping Thursdays. We could never get people to come out that close to the weekend. He was faced with coming up with a gimmick or closing up that night. So I suggested this. He was actually pretty enthusiastic about it. Only the two of us ever did it, and we didn't take off underwear, obviously. And unlike strip clubs, we don't involve the audience or do lap dances and shit. They just throw the money down if they want us to move closer. Seb actually broke a guy's hand once."

"Didn't want some random dude grabbing his ass? That doesn't sound like Smythe." Kurt peeks behind him to make sure Seb isn't close enough to hear them. He regrets it when he sees Sebastian down on his knees slowly humping into the bartop wearing only a pair of briefs. _Shit! Don't turn around! Jesus._

Elliot coughs, "Actually, the guy had grabbed Sam."

Sam winces, "And it wasn't my ass. I guess the dude didn't know his own strength or something but I may not be able to father children anymore."

Puck claps Sam on the shoulder. "Dude is just lucky that Dave got there before I could. He just grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and tossed him out. Pretty sure he landed on his wrist, which I'm sure was an accident."

Kurt smiles, "Sure. Dave's clumsy like that." As the song winds down, Kurt mumbles, "Thank god, it's over. Worst idea ever."

Elliot giggles a little. "Well, trust me, he covered the bottle. Even back when they did it every week the money was never the problem. People just started to get a little too handsy and would be annoying about asking them to strip randomly. It was just easier to stop and wait for people to forget than to keep fighting them on it."

Sam laughs, "Yep. Sebastian may legit murder you for this, man. He'd finally gotten to where most people had let it go or forgotten."

Kurt starts to feel bad about roping him into this. Granted, he hadn't known what he was doing, not really, but that didn't change the outcome.

When the song finally ends, Kurt grabs the microphone again and calls out, "Okay guys, last chance to pay for the privilege. You may very well have witnessed Seb's last dance! Show him how much you appreciate it!"

After the money has been collected off the bar, Kurt resolutely doesn't turn to face the smirk he can feel aimed at him. At least not until he's sure Sebastian has put his pants back on. When he does turn, Seb is standing so close to him that he almost falls back on his ass from shock.

"Um, did you make enough to cover the bottle?"

As Seb puts his tank back on, he laughs. "Oh, yeah. When I first started I was going to do it and still make you pay for the bottle, since, ya know, I'm making the money, not you, so it shouldn't count. But since I made over twice what it was worth, I figure I'll let ya off easy. Just be more careful, Elsa."

Kurt doesn't know if he should be pissed off or relieved. All it takes is one glance down at Sebastian's previously revealed abs for him to decide on letting it go and running away. Hopping up on the bar and moving away, Kurt wonders if following **that** was really the best idea, but it beats the hell out of working a section and having to hear everyone gushing over Sebastian's body.

As Kurt swings his hips and reaches for the pole to lean out over the crowd he suddenly remembers Seb grinding against it and snatches his hand back.

 _Shit. How long until I can get that image seared out of my mind? That really was the most horrible idea I've ever had. And I gave my virginity to Blaine Anderson._


	3. Chapter 3

**Yes... that is Kurt singing Adam Lambert in front of Adam Lambert... move along. Nothing to see here. =D**

* * *

Over a week had gone by and Kurt had mostly recovered from Sebastian's mind melting night of fun. He had mostly conditioned himself out of thinking about it. Sort of.

It was, at least, the last thing he was thinking of tonight.

The place was more packed than Kurt had ever seen it. It was actually hard for them to even find time to dance, they couldn't leave the taps unattended without risking people climbing over. Puck and Sebastian had both already caught a couple guys and pushed them back off the bar.

Due to the over crowding and long wait times on drinks, Dave had been trying to break up fights near constantly and had thrown out twice as many guys in one night than he usually does over a whole weekend. There was a double bachelor party for a couple of guys getting married on Sunday that were especially wild. The grooms themselves had left early, going home to fuck, but that had left their very drunk friends at the bar. They'd spent the whole night making asses of themselves and grabbing at Sam and Kurt anytime they'd gotten close enough.

Kurt was starting to panic.

He doesn't get really worried though, not until he hears Sebastian muttering about cops as he jumps the bar, working through the crowd. Kurt looks out over the mass of bodies and realizes how over capacity they are. He watches as Sam hops onto the bar, trying to divert attention away from the policemen at the door. Puck, Elliot, and Kurt work overtime to try and serve everyone, hoping Sebastian won't take long.

Kurt has almost convinced himself that they're going to be okay when he hears Sam yell out, "Hey! What the fuck, man?!"

He looks up just in time to see Sam pushing one of the drunken idiots from the bachelor party away from him, the man's hand suspiciously placed on Sam's ass. Kurt quickly realizes where the guy had touched Sam and he yells for Dave to throw the asshole out.

When there's no immediate response, Kurt looks over only to find Dave already in the middle of a fight with three guys. The guys are small enough that he's not being hurt, but he can't really move either.

Puck had also seen what was going on with Sam though, because he comes flying out of no where and punches the guy in the face, crawling over the bar to kick his ass.

Sam scrambles to follow him, trying to pull him back to the relative safety of the bar, neither of them realizing that Dave won't be there to back them up.

Kurt crawls up on the bar and grabs the water hose they use for drinks, spraying into the crowd. When all he gets is a few squawks but no one calming down, Kurt drops it and starts looking around. Sebastian had come back in, the cops only about five feet away, but unable to tell what was going on. Seb himself had climbed up on a pillar and was yelling at the guys on Dave to back the fuck off, but the crowd was too dense for him to make his way over.

Looking to Sam and Puck, Kurt can see them both trying to fight guys off, Sam suddenly being surrounded by the bachelor party group.

A quick glance shows that Elliot has ducked behind the bar covering his head, customers grabbing whatever liquor they can reach without actually climbing over. Just as Kurt thinks that, they start to pull themselves over it and Elliot yells, running back down toward Kurt, standing behind him looking lost.

The music is still going, barely audible over the yells and sounds of fighting. Kurt registers the beginning of 'For Your Entertainment' by Adam Lambert and gets an idea. He darts to the middle of the bar and grabs the microphone, yelling at Elliot to go turn the music up a little and start the song over. He needs the time to settle his nerves. If this doesn't work...

As it starts back up, Kurt shakes himself and pulls the mic up, singing in a lower, rougher voice than usual. By the time he hits the chorus, he's stalked to the end of the bar, trying to draw eyes to him and distract the crowd from the fights going on. He's never been more thankful that he bought these pants than he is at that moment.

They'd been one of his first purchases when he'd gone shopping with Puck and Sam weeks ago. They were made of tight black leather and had laces up the sides, and they hugged his ass perfectly. He'd paired them with a pair of boots, a deep green dress shirt, and a black vest with corset lacing down the back. He'd rolled his sleeves up hours ago but now wished he'd just removed the shirt and put the vest on bare; this actually seemed to be working.

He swings his ass and sings louder, trying to keep his voice low and sexy, slowly stalking from one end of the room to the other, pushing guys back off the bar as he goes and cutting his gaze out to make sure that Puck and Sam were taking advantage of the distraction. Sebastian looks dumbfounded, watching the mob stop and turn to him like a siren's call.

Before long, Puck and Sam reappear on the bar, each moving in close to him and grinding on him from each side, Kurt playing off it like it had been the plan all along. He uses them to tease the crowd, grinding on one before switching to the other, eventually darting away from both, sliding down the pole as he screams the lyrics out at them, now dancing together, still watching Kurt.

As the last verse starts, Kurt makes his way back to the two dancers, standing between them and swinging his hips again, ending the song with their hands moving to touch his back and ass.

As soon as the cheers start up and the music fades out Sam whoops and grabs Kurt, smacking a kiss on his lips.

"You were awesome! Jesus!"

Puck laughs at Sam, grinning as he grabs Kurt's face and turns him, also forcing a quick kiss on Kurt. "Seriously, Princess! You totally saved our asses!"

Elliot bounces over to them, yelling out, "That's great guys, but stop making out and announce last call, or Seb's going to explode."

Laughing, Kurt looks around again, noticing that Sebastian had made it off the pillar and was waving people over on his station, clearly trying to get people ready to go.

Dave was back at his post, having just thrown out the bachelor party, and gives Kurt a huge smile and a thumbs up before turning to direct people outside. Kurt takes a minute to breathe, looking out over the mass of people, half of which are still staring at him, awed.

 _I can't believe that worked!_

* * *

That night even Elliot sticks around after they close, all of them too tired and shocked from the night to even count tips. It's not until Dave mentions that he has class somewhat early tomorrow and that he'll see Seb at home that they seem to snap out of it.

Kurt watches as Puck and Sam count out the tips, Elliot cleaning off the bar and Sebastian scowling as he sweeps up broken glass.

Sam notices Kurt's gaze and frowns at Sebastian. "What's wrong, Seb?"

With a raised eyebrow, Sebastian indicates the mess he's cleaning up. "It's not exactly fun to try and clean up glass, Sam. Tonight was a shit storm that I hope not to repeat ever again. Fucking bachelor parties."

Kurt glares, stung by his words. _Well excuse the hell out of me. Maybe I should have let them tear the damn place down around us, then._

He's not the only one that reacts though. Elliot of all people huffs and says, "Oh, come off it. Tonight could have gone **so** much worse. At least Kurt saved the day."

Sebastian scowls but makes no comment. Kurt throws up a blank face, not wanting to show that Sebastian's refusal to admit he was wrong hurt him. _Whatever. I guess he'll just never get his head out of his ass when it comes to me. I bet if Puck or Sam had done it..._

His thoughts are cut off by Puck fist bumping Sam and laughing loudly. "Holy shit, dude. We each made over $700."

Sam grins, "Imagine how much we'll make when we all start singing? We could get tips like this every night!"

Kurt glances back and forth between them, before turning to look at Sebastian. Seb doesn't look up, not saying anything either way. Biting his tongue, Kurt gets up to get his coat, taking his share of the money and a hug from Sam before leaving without another word to anyone.

* * *

The following days are tense. Kurt only has to work Sunday and Monday and then he thankfully gets two days off where he doesn't have to pretend everything is fine.

He'd been running on fumes for the past month, trying to focus on getting money to pay rent and making it through the day to day bullshit that his life had become. He'd been dodging his dad's calls and attempts to video chat, knowing that when he told him he'd have to explain in person. Burt knew, in theory, about Blaine's bar but he'd sure as hell never been inside.

He was also avoiding Finn and Rachel, who kept calling, wanting to have dinner. He wasn't sure what Blaine had told Rachel, if anything, but he knew Finn didn't know yet, because Kurt was still breathing. When he finds out, he might actually choke Kurt to death before he stops to find out the whole story.

His personal life had basically devolved into making money by shaking his ass and avoiding his loved ones. He didn't go out anymore, even now that he had the money to do so. He didn't really hang out with the guys outside of work either, which is kind of stupid, but Kurt can't bring himself to confront what he's doing outside the safety of the bar.

He hadn't gone on a date in months, had stopped looking for a boyfriend around a year ago. He'd decided to focus on NYADA and find a man later. Look how that had turned out. Now he had no hope of finding a boyfriend, because how would he explain his job?

Honestly, he's not sure he'd be okay with dating someone who was fine with him doing the things he does. Anyone who met him working at the Wolves' Deception would assume he was a slut and he just really didn't want to deal with correcting assumptions at this point. He's busy enough.

So he worked, and he went home, and he slept. When he woke up, usually after no more than five or six hours of sleep, he worked on the rain costumes for work or a personal outfit if he was inspired. His apartment had a huge space that was meant to be used as a combination living/dining room but instead, Kurt had outfitted it to be a bedroom/living room. He'd thrown his bed in the corner and used screens and partitions for privacy and made a small sitting room, where he ate.

If anyone found it weird, they didn't say anything. Living in New York, most people probably assumed that it was just a small, shitty studio apartment. What they didn't realize was that it **did** have a bedroom. What most people assumed was the closet is actually... well, the closet. He'd turned the side section into an organized closet space, with a temporary wall and shelving. The rest of the room was set up for making his clothes. It had his prized sewing machine, work tables, dress forms, and everything else he'd collected over the years as he'd made project after project.

He'd even made Rachel's dress the last time she had performed at a school event, which she'd gotten so many compliments on that he'd already been talked into making her next one, whenever that was.

With Thanksgiving coming up next week, Kurt had resolved to finally tell his dad where he was working. He just hopes he'll be able to distract Finn long enough to have the conversation in private. Maybe Finn will be forced to go eat tofurkey with Rachel's dads.

Kurt is cutting the lining for Puck's vest when he hears someone banging on his door on Tuesday night. Guessing that someone had the wrong apartment, Kurt doesn't even bother to look in a mirror, going to the door wearing sweatpants and an old henley. When he checks the peephole, he sees Sebastian Smythe and wants to bang his head against the door. _Of course._

Instead, he tugs the shirt down and opens the door, quickly crossing his arms and huffing. "What?"

Sebastian takes a second to blink at Kurt's clothes before raising his eyes back up to meet his gaze. "What the hell are you wearing?"

"You're one to talk. I stopped questioning your clothing choices after the Blue's Clues shirt with a popped collar."

Glaring at Kurt, Sebastian snaps, "I meant why are you dressed like a hobo? We aren't at work so I couldn't give a shit what you're wearing."

Kurt rolls his eyes and immediately shuts the door in his face. As he walks back toward the kitchen he calls back, "Thanks for stopping by, Meerkat. Have a nice day."

Kurt is pouring a cup of coffee before Sebastian manages to recover and starts banging on the door. "Oh, very funny, Maria. Open the fucking door."

"Fuck off, Sebastian." Kurt calls back, using the sweetest tone he can as he doctors his coffee. He hears muttered swears coming from the hallway, Sebastian obviously making no attempt to leave. _Hmm. I guess he really does need to talk to me. Interesting._

Kurt grabs his cup and moves back toward to door, leaning against the wall nearby so he can hear what Sebastian is saying.

"Jesus fucking Christ. I'm gonna kill them for this. Assholes got me down here looking like a moron." Seb's voice suddenly speaks up, like he's trying to be heard from the other side of the apartment. "Seriously, Ma- Kurt! I need to talk to you."

Kurt resists a giggle, remembering spouting the same words to Sebastian numerous times his first night at the Wolves' Deception. _What a wonderful time for him to find out how annoying it is when someone is too busy being an asshole to listen._

Ignoring the fact that Kurt had just called himself an asshole, he sips his coffee quietly, waiting on Sebastian to make some kind of argument so he can either let him back in or give up and go back to sewing. At this point he doesn't really care which.

"Kurt! If you don't talk to me, I'm gonna start singing Katy Perry songs!" When he still doesn't get a response, he elaborates, "If I run out I can always switch to Pink!"

Kurt scoffs and moves away from the door, going to sit on his couch. As he sits down he calls out, "It's open, idiot."

Sebastian opens the door, glaring at it like it had betrayed him. _Yes, blame the door. Not yourself, for being an asshole and for not noticing that there was no click of a lock._

Kurt just keeps sipping his coffee, like he hasn't noticed that Sebastian has come inside, shutting the door behind him. Grumbling, Seb walks over in front of Kurt and drops down in the chair facing the couch. Kurt just raises an eyebrow, not lowering his mug.

Sebastian throws his hands up, exasperated. "Okay! I get it! I'm an douchebag! Trust me, it's not news!"

Kurt smirks, sipping his drink again. Seb sinks down in the chair, glaring. "Yeah, congratulations. You got Sebastian Smythe to admit he's a douche. Feel proud. It's **such** an achievement." A few seconds go by without either of them speaking. Eventually Sebastian sighs and drops his head back on the chair. "Seriously? What do you want from me here, Kurt?"

Kurt huffs again, going to get another cup of coffee. When he stands and walks away, Sebastian watches him go, asking again, "No, really. What am I supposed to do?"

While stirring his cup, Kurt looks up at Sebastian. "Why are you asking me? You never even told me why you're here. All you've done is bitch about my clothes and make an ass of yourself. I don't really have an opinion on the idiocy that comes out of your mouth. I've been waiting on you to ask a question, make a point, or go the fuck away. I've almost given up hope of those things happening and going back to work."

Seemingly not able to stop himself, Sebastian says, "What work? All I see is a coffee machine, and you've been doing that anyway."

Kurt rolls his eyes and picks up his cup. "Well, who can argue with that? Don't let the doorknob bruise something sensitive, Sebastian." As he delivers his parting shot, Kurt goes back into his sewing room, hoping Seb will just do the decent thing and slink away to annoy someone else. Kurt really doesn't have time to sit around and figure out what he wants, he's almost finished with the costumes. Then he can get started on his newest idea for spring, which he can't wear for a few months, but is really excited about.

Putting his coffee down on a small side table, Kurt grabs his scissors and gets back to work on cutting the liner, double checking the shape before he continues. He can't afford to waste the fabric or start over. Kurt gets so absorbed in making sure the liner fits the vest that he forgot to listen for Sebastian's departure.

It's not until he turns to grab another drink of coffee that he sees the meerkat leaning against the door frame, holding a coffee mug himself and raising an eyebrow at Kurt when he startles a little.

"Shit! You scared the hell out of me. Didn't you leave?"

Seb shrugs, "No. I never got to talk to you about why I came. Do you always leave strangers alone in your apartment and then lose yourself in other things?"

Kurt rolls his eyes again and turns back to the vest. "You're hardly a stranger, Sebastian. Like it or not, I've known you almost five fucking years. And no, actually. I hardly ever let anyone in my apartment, so I'm not really used to having people here."

Seb nods, watching Kurt warily. When Kurt makes no other comment, Sebastian coughs, "Okay. So... since you clearly don't even care enough to ask, I'm here because Puck and Sam threatened to start line dancing and doing the Macarena if I didn't come find out what has you bent out of shape. They even made me leave mid-shift since it was a dead night."

Kurt scoffs. _Of course. Our friends noticed that I was upset, were worried, and they rightly assumed it was Sebastian's fault. Well, great. Why they thought the best way to fix a Sebastian problem was to send Sebastian home with me, I have no idea, and I'm not real happy about it._

"I'm fine, Sebastian. I've got some personal problems that should resolve themselves soon enough. A few of them aren't new, and I've dealt with them before. Just give me until after Thanksgiving and I should be fine."

Seb cocks his head, thinking. "What personal problems?"

Kurt didn't look up. "Family shit. I'll have to tell my dad next week and keep Finn from finding out, it's been a little tense with them lately because they can tell I'm hiding something."

Sebastian watches him for a bit before pointing out, "That's really only one problem."

Kurt clicks his tongue, having screwed up a stitch. He grabs a seam ripper and starts pulling the thread loose, still refusing to look up. "I also have to figure out what the hell I want to do with my life. I can't dance on a bar forever, Sebastian. While you could make a living working the taps until you're 60, I have no plans of being a 40 year old Go-Go dancer."

Seb almost gets caught in the web of trying to picture Kurt at age 40 still shimmying around in leather pants but as he watches Kurt shift a little, he realizes that Kurt is nervous. Thinking through everything he'd said, Sebastian points out,

"That's not going to resolve itself, and to my knowledge it's a new problem." Seeing Kurt trying to hide a tiny flinch, Sebastian presses. "So, you have family problems, which I'm assuming isn't new, because with an overprotective Finn Hudson in your family, that has to have come up before. But you said problems. Plural. So what else is bothering you?"

Kurt carefully turns to put the seam ripper down, moving back to the sewing machine. Eventually he responds, "It's nothing, Sebastian. Like I said, it's personal. And I'll get over it." The mumbled, "I always do." is barely caught.

Putting his mug down on the table, Sebastian crosses his arms. "If it's work related, you should tell me so I can handle it."

Kurt scoffs but Seb catches the faint blush on his cheeks before he bites out, "I never said it was work related. It's **fine** , Sebastian. Let it go."

"Sorry, Elsa. Can't do that. What's going on at work that's making you this pissy? Because if Puck and Sam start doing the Macarena, it's coming out of your paycheck."

Kurt gets up, stomping over to the thread drawer, trying to find the silver he'd used for the liner. "It's not going to affect work. Like I said, it's nothing new, this happens to me surprisingly often, and has been a reoccurring problem since high school. Don't worry, I can handle it. Like I said, after Thanksgiving I'll hopefully have a better idea of what I want to do and the family shit will be resolved. That'll make it that much easier to handle the other thing. Thanks for your concern, but I'm **fine**."

Sebastian takes in the slight flush of Kurt's face and the rigid stance he's holding. Listening to Kurt spout how fine he is makes Sebastian come to the conclusion that what Kurt really needs is, "You need to get laid, Elsa."

Kurt snarls, turning to face Sebastian. "Is that your answer for everything? 'Have it with a side of penis'? That's not my go-to response to problems."

Sebastian tries to be offended by Kurt's assumption but he can't stop himself from laughing. "A side of penis? Where do you come up with this shit?"

Kurt just glares at him before moving back to the worktop. "Whatever, Sebastian. I don't need to get laid. Well, I do, but that won't fix my problem. It'll just make my problem more pathetic."

Sebastian wastes a few seconds trying, again, to figure out what his problem is before getting back to the topic at hand. "Are you sure taking the stick out of your ass won't help you?"

Kurt scoffs, finally giving up getting any work done until the meerkat leaves. "If I had a stick up my ass I wouldn't need to get laid, would I? Your argument makes no sense." Smirking slightly at Sebastian's look of surprise, Kurt says, "Now that we've discussed my ass way more than we should have, shouldn't you be going?"

Recovering from his surprise and ignoring Kurt's comment about leaving completely, Sebastian says, "You're right, I'm not explaining myself well at all. Maybe I should just show you?"

Kurt doesn't know if he should punch Sebastian in the face or give up on staying sane and laugh until he passes out. The smirk aimed at him is making him lean more toward punching. "What the hell does that mean?"

Sebastian leans toward him, "Exactly what it sounds like, Kurt. I could help you out with that 'side of penis' you mentioned."

Kurt stares at him for a solid ten seconds before doubling over laughing. "Oh my god. **Please** tell me that isn't how you proposition guys. Jesus Christ, Sebastian."

All Seb hears in between the rolls of laughter is a distinct lack of 'no'. When Kurt realizes that Sebastian isn't laughing, just cocking an eyebrow at him, he sobers quickly. "Wait. You are fucking kidding me, right?" Silence. "Sebastian?"

Finally cracking a smile, Seb shrugs. "Is it that unbelievable?" At Kurt's dumbstruck look, Sebastian laughs. "Guess so. Well, since you seemed upset by talking about your ass, would you like to discuss mine? I'm versatile."

By the time Sebastian moves closer and starts looking for signs of life, Kurt has only managed to graduate from stunned silence to slight gurgling sounds.

Eventually he blurts out, "So you got over your fear of fem?"

Sebastian laughs again, reaching out a hand tentatively to rub his thumb over Kurt's hipbone. When he isn't smacked, Seb grins widely. "I never had a fear of fem, I just didn't like you. I could tell by the way you stared at me that you thought I was something to avoid stepping in." At Kurt's snort Sebastian concedes that wasn't the most tactful way to put that, but he ignores it and goes on. "Besides, your look has changed considerably."

Kurt can think of at least ten follow up questions off the top of his head. Everything ranging from "Are you clean?" to "Are we on candid camera?" Instead of asking any of them, Kurt decides, _Fuck it._

He grabs Sebastian's hand and drags him back through the door, into the main room. Sebastian looks nothing but confused until he's pushed down on the bed and Kurt leans over him, then all he can manage is a wide grin. "Really? That easy, huh?"

Kurt scoffs, quickly reaching down to unbutton Sebastian's pants. "You probably shouldn't call someone taking off your pants 'easy'. Just thinking out loud."

Sebastian looks like he wants to make another snarky comment but Kurt just gives him a blank look that says, 'Is now the time?', so he shuts up and goes with it.

Kurt figures heading off questions at the beginning is probably for the best so after he gets Sebastian's jeans unbuttoned and unzipped he leans up and says, "The quick version of what we're about to do is 'something very stupid'. But it's been so long since I've had sex that I don't care. If I have to ruin a friendship, it might as well be with someone that doesn't like me very much." Kurt pulls back far enough to pull Sebastian's t-shirt over his head before he pushes him back down, dragging his pants down and off.

Kurt stands up, quickly shedding his own shirt and pants. Seeing Sebastian spread out on his bed wearing nothing but the smallest pair of men's underwear he'd ever seen causes Kurt's priorities to shift considerably. If he only gets to do this once, he's going to go for broke and see just what all Seb is willing to go along with.

Jumping up quickly, Kurt reaches into the box on his nightstand, grabbing lube and a condom and moving back toward Sebastian, all without taking his eyes off of the impressive chest and abs on display. It really isn't fair of him to cover **that** with polo shirts.

Trying not to give any time for second guessing, Kurt immediately reaches down and starts rubbing his palms over Sebastian's chest, rubbing tight circles around his nipples with his fingertips. When he gets an impatient groan in response Kurt leans down to take one between his teeth, nipping lightly before laughing.

"What's wrong, Bas? Feeling a bit frustrated?" Without waiting for a reply, Kurt moves to the other nipple, sucking it harshly and running his tongue over the nub, sliding his hands down, over his stomach to palm Sebastian through the cotton of his briefs.

Sebastian's response is cut off by a guttural moan, making Kurt smirk into his abs as he kisses his way down. Kurt smiles up at Sebastian when he catches him watching, leaning up on his forearms. Moving his hands to Sebastian's waist, Kurt runs his thumbs over his hipbones, leaning down to suck at the skin just above the waistline, dangerously close to the erection he can feel attempting to escape the tiny underwear.

Kurt finally looks away from Sebastian's face, biting the elastic in the middle and grabbing the sides, pulling his briefs down over his cock and tugging them off his legs. The sight that greets him makes him moan appreciatively, almost making Kurt change his mind yet again. _Wow. It's a good thing Seb can't read my mind or he'd have gotten fed up with me by now. But_ _ **damn**_ _._

Deciding to show his appreciation in a different way, Kurt leans in, licking from the base of Sebastian's cock all the way to the tip. Kurt looks back up to make eye contact as he wraps his lips around the head, running his tongue under the ridge and sucking lightly. Moving one hand to the base of Seb's cock and the other down to roll his balls, Kurt slides his lips down, taking a couple more inches in before bobbing back up, curling his tongue around him as he moves.

Kurt pulls off enough to dip his tongue into the slit at the top and twists his hand at the base before going back to bobbing his head, lips stretched around the shaft.

Quickly taking his hands away, Kurt grabs the lube, slicking his fingers and rubbing two of them against Sebastian's entrance. Although he'd expected at least a token protest to Seb being on the bottom, the taller boy doesn't seem fazed at all, just spreading his legs wider and moaning lightly.

Moving one hand to keep rhythm with his sliding lips on Sebastian's cock, Kurt slides a finger into Sebastian. Wasting no time, Kurt starts to pump the finger in and out, twisting it as much as he's able, before adding a second.

Keeping a close eye on Sebastian, Kurt works his fingers inside, stretching and searching. When he hooks his fingers slightly and Seb arches away from the bed a little, Kurt smiles around the erection, sliding his lips back down at the same time as he thrusts his fingers again, pressing against Sebastian's prostate.

When Kurt catches Sebastian thrusting down onto his fingers he slips the third in, patience slipping away. Not long after working all three fingers inside and making Sebastian buck again, Seb pants out, "Jesus Fuck, Kurt. Come on! At this point it's not prep, it's torture."

Sliding off of Sebastian and removing his fingers, Kurt smirks at him. "Damn. Nothing shuts you up, does it?"

Sitting back, Kurt picks up the condom, ripping it open and sliding it on quickly. After hastily removing his underwear and slicking his own cock, Kurt moves closer to Sebastian, pushing one leg up and bracing it on his shoulder. He tugs Sebastian's hips up a little for a better angle before finally pressing himself against Sebastian's hole.

Instead of pushing in right away, Kurt starts rubbing the head of his cock in circles around his entrance. Sebastian groans, glaring at him. "You really are the biggest bitch in the world, aren't you?"

Kurt laughs, pressing firmly against him before pulling away, "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't hear you. What?"

Seb closes his eyes, refusing to answer and just attempts to wait Kurt out. Hiding his increased amusement, Kurt continues to tease him for long minutes, never even pushing the head of his dick all of the way inside. It takes less than five teasing thrusts before Seb snaps.

"Oh my god! What the fuck wrong with-" Sebastian cuts himself off with a strangled moan as Kurt suddenly sinks himself all the way inside. Seb is barely given a second to suck in a breath before Kurt starts pumping in and out of him, refusing to give him time to collect himself.

When Kurt pulls back and hikes Seb's hips up a little more before slamming back in, Sebastian bows his back and whines. As he pulls back out to do it again, Seb grabs at Kurt's arms and tries to pull him in closer so he can wrap his arms around his neck.

Holding on to the back of Kurt's head by clutching at his hair, Seb continues to moan quietly, thrusting his hips down as much as he can and clawing a little at his shoulders.

Kurt leans down, putting his weight on his hands as he leans over Sebastian, looking down between them to watch himself disappearing inside Seb. He moans loudly when Sebastian clenches a little, before he lays back and wraps a hand around himself, dragging his other hand down Kurt's chest, pinching a nipple lightly.

"God, Kurt. Not gonna last long."

Kurt leans up a little, bracing himself on one arm so he can use the other to knock Seb's away, wrapping his own hand around Sebastian's cock and trying to keep time with his thrusts.

Sebastian moans louder, twisting his hands in the bedsheets and trying to pant out words that Kurt can't be bothered trying to figure out. He quickly figures out that Seb had been trying to warn him because shortly after, Sebastian clenches harder around Kurt's cock and comes all over himself and Kurt's hand.

Leaning back, Kurt grabs Sebastian's hips and thrusts harder, pushing himself over the edge quickly before collapsing onto Sebastian's chest.

Kurt barely has his breath back before he starts giggling, still buried deep inside Sebastian. With a faint grunt, Seb asks, "What's so funny?"

Kurt snorts, hiding his face in Sebastian's neck. Eventually he leans up to brace himself on his hand, saying, "I finally found a way to shut you up!"


	4. Chapter 4

As Kurt dances his way down the bar singing 'Firework' by Katy Perry in Sebastian's honor, he tries not to laugh out right at Elliot giving him wary looks.

All night Puck, Sam, and Elliot had been watching Kurt, trying to figure out why he was in such a good mood. He had refused to tell them what was going on, partly because he didn't think it was any of their business and partly because he had no fucking clue.

After Kurt had thrown himself down on the bed beside Sebastian on Tuesday night, he'd expected the ex-Warbler to stand up and start dressing. He'd been pleasantly surprised when he'd just turned to face him and asked if he could order a pizza. Since it was hours past Seb's usual 'lunch break', Kurt wasn't shocked by his hunger, but by the fact that he planned to stick around to eat instead of just running away now that the sweat had dried.

Instead Sebastian had leaned over to nip at Kurt's shoulder lightly before grabbing his phone and heading to the bathroom. After calling in an order, Sebastian had taken a shower and come back out wrapped in a towel. That towel was the most clothing he'd worn in the following 12 hours.

Kurt giggled a little, remembering the look on the pizza guy's face when Seb had opened the door, covered in scratches and bite marks with the towel back around his waist.

They had never actually talked about what they were doing, they'd just done it. A lot. When Seb had left Kurt's apartment on Wednesday, he'd told Kurt he'd see him the next day and had pressed a kiss to his cheek before walking away.

Kurt wasn't really sure where they would go from here but either way, it had been a good night and had made him relax. Kurt counted it as Sebastian being a good friend and tried to move on.

As Kurt snaps back out of it, he turns to grin at Sebastian. The taller boy had managed to hide his good mood much better than Kurt had, only smirking and winking when he caught Kurt's eye, otherwise keeping up his asshole exterior. Kurt laughed before making his way back down the bar to switch out with Puck. Who knows, maybe his new bubbly attitude will earn him better tips.

* * *

By the time they close Sunday night, Kurt is exhausted. Since Seb had decided to close the whole week of Thanksgiving, and later Christmas, the bar had been packed that night. Kurt had to fake regrets to customers all night that the bar would be closed for the next five days, when actually he was pretty excited. He got to spend a couple days doing whatever he wanted before heading back to Ohio to visit his dad on Wednesday.

He'd finally finished the costumes on his last day off and had talked to Noah and Sam about putting on the rain routine their first night back, Saturday. They'd both seemed excited and even Sebastian had smiled when it was mentioned. Well, smirked, but close enough.

As Kurt moved back behind the bar to gather his coat and gloves, Sebastian steps up close, using the bar and his own body to block the other guys from view. When he starts rubbing his thumb on Kurt's hip the way he had that first night, Kurt looks around, making sure they aren't drawing attention, before cocking an eyebrow at him.

Seb grins, answering the silent question, "Think you could use some company tonight?"

Kurt pretends to consider it for a few seconds. "Well, I guess that depends. I have to stick around for about another ten minutes and make small talk with my friends, then I can head home." With a tilt of the head, Kurt digs his extra apartment key out of his inside coat pocket, where he'd safety pinned it months ago, careful to keep it out of sight of the ex-football players. "But if someone were to be waiting at my place, preferably naked, I think I could handle that."

Sebastian quickly plucks the key from Kurt's fingers, pocketing it, before replying, "You sure do like to keep me naked when I'm at your place, Elsa."

Kurt huffs moving a step away in case the meatheads suddenly decide to become observant and starts getting dressed to go. Apparently he has plans now. "I'm actually pretty sure that I've proven that ice bitch I may be, but girl I certainly am not. Do I really need to prove it to you again?"

Sebastian smirks, "Anytime, babe. But that's not what I meant. Sure, it's a Frozen reference, but think about it. She's a queen who hid herself for most of her life before finally snapping and screaming 'fuck it' at the top of her lungs and challenging anyone who didn't like it to come at her. She's pretty much the only Disney chick who's storyline didn't revolve around a guy. She figured out her shit all on her own. You're like, the most independent person I know. It fits."

Kurt giggles, "Okay. She gave herself a makeover and made her own kick ass dress, I guess I'll take it." Deciding to escape before Seb could make a comment on 'taking it', Kurt smacks his ass as he walks by him, headed to where Puck had just stood up, looking around for Kurt to give him his share.

As Kurt listens to Puck discuss how to keep the secret from Finn over the holidays, he watches Sebastian stroll out the front door, whistling quietly.

With a grin, Kurt tries to decide where they're going to fuck first, not listening to Puck at all anymore.

 _I haven't bent him over anything yet... I think the couch is the closest thing to the door..._

* * *

Early Wednesday morning Kurt is halfway done packing when he gets a text.

 _Sebastian: Hey babe, I dunt wanna get outta bed. Bring me coffee._

Before Kurt can even decide on a reply it's followed by:

 _Sebastian: I'd get it myself but I'd have to put pants on. Can't be bothered._

Kurt licks his lips, looking around at all the packing he has left to do...

 _ **Kurt: Sure! Give me about half an hour, hun.**_

27 minutes later, Kurt is letting himself in with the key Sebastian had slipped on his keyring at some point on Sunday night.

By the time Kurt gets there, he's shivering, but he's loaded down with coffee and breakfast for two and all of his bags were stuffed into the trunk of the rental car he'd gotten to drive down to Ohio. His original plan had been to fly back, since it was so much easier. Then he'd had dinner with Finn, and been 'informed' that Puck and Sam were also going home for the holidays.

Finn had the bright idea of everyone carpooling there and back. That way no one had to pay for tickets and they'd have a car to use down there. With four drivers it wouldn't even be that hard. Tedious, but doable. As long as Puck and Sam kept quiet. _Thank god Rachel's dads had already bought her a plane ticket. 9 hours with her and I'd jump out the window._

As Kurt tosses his keys down and kicks the door closed, he calls out in his best Manly Voice, "Honey, I'm home! I brought coffee."

Dropping his messenger bag, Kurt glances up as Sebastian walks in. Laughing, Kurt says, "Hey! I thought you weren't wearing pants! You called me here under false pretenses!"

Sebastian shrugs, unrepentant. "Tell me you wouldn't trick me with sex for coffee and I'll apologize." Getting nothing but a laugh in reply, Seb leans over to smack a kiss on Kurt's cheek, grabbing his drink. "Thanks, babe. What's with the shivering?"

Kurt shrugs, trying to pretend it's not that bad. "Nothing, I was packing and got fed up, just shoved everything that I had set out into a bag and dumped it in the trunk. I'll deal with it when I get to Dad's."

Sebastian blinks. "That doesn't actually explain anything."

Kurt starts digging out the food, hoping to distract him. "I'd been intending to layer so the first thing I packed was my big winter coat, so I wouldn't forget it. I don't want to be stuck wearing a parka for the whole drive. But when I was throwing everything in a bag, I accidentally packed two of my layers for today."

Sebastian grunts, taking his food and setting it down on the table before walking away. Kurt watches him go, confused. He convinces himself that it's more important to sit huddled in his flimsy sweater and try to get warm than to follow him.

Just as Kurt is moving on to his food, Sebastian comes back and drops a heavy fur lined hoodie over his shoulders, sitting down and eating without saying a word. Kurt looks from Sebastian to the sweatshirt for a few seconds before putting his arms through the sleeves and zipping it up. Kurt realizes it's nothing he himself would buy but it's actually pretty nice, definitely warm, which is his main concern at the moment.

Smiling, Kurt does his best to poke his hands out of the too-long sleeves and thanks him. When Sebastian just nods, Kurt goes back to eating, ignoring the continued question of _Just what the hell are we doing?_

* * *

By the time Kurt makes it to Puck and Sam's he's almost an hour late to pick them up. Luckily Finn was meeting them there, and he was ready to go too. Also luckily, they were all fashion illiterate and had only one bag each, so they fit in the trunk with Kurt's three.

When Finn starts ranting about a late start, Kurt tells him to shut up, he took longer than he expected in the shower. Unfortunately that tips all three boys off to the fact that his hair is still wet and his jacket is too big. Puck and Sam especially, are eying the jacket with confused expressions. Shit.

Hoping to distract them, Kurt points out his second round of coffee for the day, passing around everyone's cups. It takes Finn a few minutes but eventually he asks, "Wait... how did you know Sam and Puck's coffee orders?"

Kurt stares out the windshield, avoiding Finn's gaze as Sam pops out with, "He texted me. I told him. Hey, how long do you think it will take to get out of the city?"

Kurt glances at Puck in the rear-view mirror and smiles warily. It's been 20 minutes and Kurt has almost spilled the beans to Finn about the two things he **can't** find out about. _It's going to be a long drive._

* * *

As soon as Finn parks outside their parent's house, Burt and Carole come running outside. Kurt thinks to himself that they still act like Kurt and Finn are rebellious kids who snuck out of their room, not grown men who are coming back for a visit.

As soon as his dad pulls back from their hug though, he says, "Hey, kiddo! Long time no see! What's been going on? Where did you get that jack-"

"Dad! Let's go inside. It's freezing. We can talk about that later!" Kurt's very pointed look seems to have gotten through to Burt because he just smiles and heads back inside, grabbing Kurt's heaviest bag.

That night, at dinner, Finn has to go to Rachel's. Apparently her dads had relatives out of town so this was their only chance to spend time with Finn before the three of them ran all over the state tomorrow. Carole had gone in to work. She'd said since Finn couldn't be there, she might as well let someone else stay home with their kids.

Kurt sat across from his dad, waiting on the inquisition. He knew it wouldn't be fun and he didn't expect anything he had to tell him to go any better. Eventually Burt sighs, putting down his glass.

"Alright, so lets have it. What have you been doing the past month or so?"

Kurt steels himself, "Well, remember how Blaine opened a bar last year?" At Burt's confused nod, Kurt swallows, "Um... I'm working there. Full time."

Burt frowns, "How can you work full time and go to school? That's too much, Kurt."

Shifting, Kurt blurts out, "Actually, I quit NYADA almost a month ago. I work at Wolves' Deception with Puck and Sam."

Burt coughs like he's choked on something, although Kurt doesn't know what because he hadn't been eating or drinking at the time. After Burt recovers he bites out, "What?! What the hell does that mean? Aren't they strippers?!"

Kurt ignores the voice in the back of his mind whispering 'Stripping Thursdays' and yells, "No! We don't strip! We wear somewhat sexy clothing and dance on the bar. Don't worry! I always wear pants, at least! Actually I've never even gone without a shirt, but Puck and Sam do, sometimes."

Burt looks horrified so Kurt pulls out his phone. "I need you to calm down, Dad. I don't want to have to explain this to the paramedics. I had Elliot, a friend of mine who only works the taps, take a couple videos. One is how we usually dance and one is... worst case scenario for me."

When Burt jumps away from the phone like it's going to burn him, shaking his head 'no', Kurt laughs but says, "Come on, Dad. We both know you're going to get curious at some point and the **last** thing I need is you showing up there."

After Kurt had shown his reluctant father the first video, he'd seems a little relieved. He'd commented that it wasn't that much worse than some of the routines he'd done in glee. Kurt thought that probably said nothing good about Mr. Shue, but didn't push it.

Before he'd shown him the second video though, he had warned him again that this is pretty much worst case scenario. He's going to see things he won't want to see or think about but he should know it's all fake. He wasn't messing around with Puck or Sam, and in fact Puck is straight. They were just very comfortable with each other and enjoyed large tips.

They had done their first routine again, 'For Your Entertainment'. He had even asked Puck and Sam to kiss him again at the end, because they did do that, albeit rarely, and it was supposed to be everything that his dad had to worry about.

After he'd watched the video he'd paced a little, biting his tongue like he was trying not to spew out unreasonable questions. Kurt had explained his reasoning and that he was just using the bar as a good source of money while he figured out what he wanted. Burt had nodded and eventually asked, just to make sure, that that video was the most... troubling thing that happened at the bar.

Kurt had winced and admitted that no, it wasn't. That's why he shouldn't come in, but it was the worst thing he did or participated in himself. After a couple minutes, Burt accepted that and sat back down. After a few seconds he turned back to Kurt.

"Alright... so who's jacket were you wearing today?"

Wincing again, Kurt says, "Um, my manager, Sebastian's." Burt just waited until Kurt continued. "Ugh. I don't know what you want me to say. I was at his apartment and I was cold, my heavy stuff was packed up, because I'm stupid, and he loaned me his hoodie. It's not that big of a deal."

Burt took a drink and asked, "Didn't you guys leave pretty early today? Before noon?"

Kurt slumps in his chair. He could explain that he was just dropping by for breakfast, but that wasn't really true and it was just easier to nod. It's not like they hadn't spent the night together before.

Burt just watches him, not saying anything. Eventually Kurt cracks, "I really don't know what you want me to say! I have no idea what we're doing, so I can't answer your questions. But yes, we sleep together. And yes, he loaned me his jacket. Make of that what you will, because I have no clue."

Burt watched him for a few more minutes and then started laughing. Kurt glared at him, asking repeatedly what was so funny, only to be ignored. When Burt finally calmed down, he went back to eating, changing the topic to what Kurt wants to do now that NYADA is out.

Kurt picks his fork back up too, glaring down at it. "I have no idea what I want, Dad."

* * *

The next five months are some of the best of Kurt's life. As he gets more and more comfortable on the bar, they make more money and have more fun. Kurt knows he could never do this job with anyone other than Puck and Sam. These boys had been friends of his for years, and had both fought for him back when hardly anyone else would. The level of trust and security they feel with each other comes off them in waves and has half the customers convinced they're sleeping together. All of them.

Of course they're wrong. Another main reason Kurt is so happy is because he and Sebastian's weird non-relationship had never tapered off or stopped the way Kurt had been afraid it would. They just didn't talk about it.

Kurt had no idea if Sebastian was still sleeping with other people, he hadn't asked. He didn't want to know if he was and it was easier to pretend as long as he didn't ask. They had also created a level of comfort that Kurt couldn't remember feeling with anyone else, even Blaine. Maybe **especially** Blaine.

Kurt convinced himself that the reason it felt different with Sebastian was because it was just friendship. He quickly decided that the comfort he felt with Sebastian was the same as he felt with Puck and Sam and he never really stopped to think about the difference. He was afraid to. As long as he told himself they were friends who slept together, Kurt could go on with it, have fun, make money, and pretend everything was great.

It mostly **was**. Thanks to working nights and not sleeping more than seven hours a day, Kurt had plenty of time to work on his outfits. He started making most of his own clothes. He still bought the more time consuming things, or the stuff he didn't have the equipment for, like jeans, but most of the rest, he made.

For Christmas he made Rachel the dress for her next event, a 'teaching jacket' for Finn with elbow patches, a leather jacket for Puck, and an expertly tailored pair of leather pants for Sam that showed off his ass perfectly. He'd made Dave and Elliot three shirts each, specifically for dates. He told them that if he saw them at the bar, he'd take them back and they could run around shirtless. Sam had been waiting patiently for one of them to forget ever since, he kept his phone in his hand every day when they walked in, ready to catch the scene on camera.

He'd made Sebastian three shirts, two pairs of pants and a leather trenchcoat, all specifically for work, to give him a more business feel when he needed it without resorting to suits or under-dressing. Kurt's career isn't the only one that confuses him. He isn't really sure what Sebastian is doing either.

He'd made him the clothes because he assumed that no matter what, sometimes you needed to dress up. Even just in his bar manager capacity, it could come up, but he was still confused. As near as Kurt could tell, Seb didn't go to school, work any other jobs, or have any plans to change anything. Kurt didn't ask, but he's also fairly sure that Seb didn't go to his parents' house for Thanksgiving or Christmas. It's just more of those things they don't talk about.

What they do, is hang out on days off, or before they are due to start their shifts. In fact Kurt keeps Sebastian away from the bar more and goes in early to help, without pay, just to spend more time together. They sometimes spend as long as three days in near-constant company, and then take a few days apart.

The days together are so intimate that Kurt sometimes feels like they're live-in boyfriends, or a roommates. They each buy food for each other, drinks for each other, watch, and even sometimes record each others' tv shows. Kurt showed Sebastian his design ideas before he finishes them and Sebastian showed Kurt his secret collection of McDonald's Happy Meal Toys.

Apparently Sebastian had been collecting them since he was a kid, keeping them hidden from his stuffy, rich parents who insisted he eat 'sophisticated' food. It's the only time he mentions his parents, but Kurt is still thankful for the small insight into his childhood.

Kurt has an old footlocker that he used to keep spare blankets in at the foot of his bed. Now those spare blankets are in the sewing room and the trunk is full of Sebastian's clothes and a few other necessities. He has a drawer at Seb's place. But it just happened. No one said a word about it.

The other guys at the bar had found out about them pretty quickly. Kurt had been worried about how Sebastian would react, so he'd tried to keep it hidden. Sebastian wasn't as worried. In fact what revealed them was Sebastian fucking Kurt against the wall in the storage room, and Elliot coming down to pick up a new case of beer, having shown up early to help set up.

Sebastian had been so unconcerned that he'd pleaded to finish before going up. When they had walked in, Sam looked smug, Puck looked impressed, Dave looked embarrassed and Elliot looked mortified. They were informed that Elliot had stumbled upstairs and whispered out what he'd seen in shock.

He'd almost fallen over when Sam punched a fist in the air, whooping and holding his hand out to Puck. Apparently they'd bet at Thanksgiving on whether Kurt and Sebastian were fucking, and who was on top. Sam had cheered, saying he'd called it. Kurt had huffed, walking up and taking the money out of Sam's hand, splitting it and giving half back, pocketing the rest.

He'd walked away without explanation but when Sam kept squawking, Sebastian threw a coaster at him, bouncing it off the back of his head. Then he'd explained that Kurt doesn't always bottom, and actually, the first time they fucked, he'd topped. So half the money wasn't earned.

Puck and Sam had looked fascinated, but Elliot and Dave had just sunk lower in their chairs, praying for a change of topic.

Little did they know that Elliot walking in on them in the storage room would start a chain reaction. At the end of five months, Puck had caught them having sex in the floor behind the bar before they opened. Dave had caught them in his and Seb's apartment on the couch. Sam had caught them, of all places, in the bathroom of the Starbucks down the street from the bar. They'd explained when they came back in that they'd gone to get coffee and had been reminded of some of their old high school fights and had decided they needed to relieve that sexual tension.

Dave had mumbled about there being no tension left with all the sex they were having, but they'd ignored him.

Kurt had been so wrapped up having fun that he hadn't really thought any more about what he was going to do down the road. He was making plenty of money and was saving loads, way more than he'd ever imagine living in New York at his age. It was easy to forget to worry when everything was going well.

Kurt was curled up against Sebastian while he watched project runway one Sunday afternoon when Seb suddenly asked. "Wait. Isn't that school here? In New York?"

Kurt nodded, looking up to see Sebastian's attention pulled away from his iPad. "Yeah, it's called Parsons. They don't actually enroll there, just use the sewing room and stuff."

Sebastian gestures at the tv, "Why don't you do that?"

Kurt scoffs. "Hey, I love this show, but I have no intention of making a haute couture gown out of garbage bags. No, thanks. As awesome as it would be to design for a living, I couldn't do this show. I'd punch someone in the face on day two."

Sebastian laughs but says, "Okay, well, what about the school? It's a real design school, right? Apply there, they can help you become a professional designer if that's what you want."

Kurt smiled at him sadly, patting him on the cheek. "You're sweet, hun, but I'm no where near good enough for that place. People that go there end up in fashion week and sometimes become world renowned designers. Marc Jacobs went there."

Sebastian tries to argue with him about it but Kurt just tosses the remote down on the coffee table and gets up, backing slowly toward the bathroom door.

"I'm gonna take a bath, and I'm pretty sure I haven't washed my meerkat today. We should work on that, Seb."

Sebastian snorts at the innuendo but drops his tablet on the couch, quickly following. "I'll show you a 'meerkat'."


	5. Chapter 5

Before Kurt knows it, it's mid-April. He'd been at the bar for six months and had saved up quite a bit of money, and was making more every day. The rain routine had gone down awesomely and for awhile they were doing it twice a month. Now that it was spring people tended to not be as enthusiastic about being wet.

Kurt was working on coming up with an idea using fire for the wetter months but wasn't sure how to do it safely so he was still working on it.

Sebastian had tried a few other times to talk to Kurt about Parsons but Kurt always deflected or used sex to distract him. It was underhanded but Kurt really didn't want to give himself false hope and he knew he wouldn't get in, why try?

As Kurt dances his way through 'One More Night' by Maroon 5, singing sometimes rather pointedly to Sebastian, he stops to think maybe he should call his dad and update him on the fact that he kisses Sam and Puck a little more often than he used to. Finally deciding that it didn't really matter because he didn't feel any differently about any of them now than he did five months ago, he just keeps dancing.

They had worked on the choreography for this song quite a bit, wanting a less raunchy version of 'For Your Entertainment'. They'd settled on Sam and Puck each standing on one end of the bar. Kurt starting out in the middle and dancing his way to Puck, grinding on him and singing with him for the first verse, then he would walk away from him, backwards, and turn half way, singing to Sam as he makes his way to him to sing and grind. He continues to strut and dance his way between them, the dancing getting a little dirtier the longer it goes on. It ends with Kurt singing the last chorus from the middle of the bar, 'refusing to choose'.

Which is Sam and Puck's cue to move in and grind against him from both sides. The song ends with a three person kiss between them, which is messy and makes Kurt want to wipe his face before they've even finished, but the crowd goes nuts for it. The tips are always well worth it. Not to mention it gets Sebastian riled up enough to 'claim the ice bitch for himself'. Only the other employees knowing that the jealousy is very much real and he really is reclaiming his 'Elsa'. The customers just think it's part of the act.

They had just run through the routine and Kurt was still kissing Sebastian when he hears yells from the other end of the bar. Turning around, he can't really tell what's going on, but he can see Puck standing on the bar yelling at someone and Sam standing behind the bar looking shocked.

Kurt takes off immediately, pulling out his phone to text Dave only to see he'd already been sent a text from the bear.

 _Dave: Shit! Ur bros here! Heads up!_

Kurt pales, stopping in place near the middle of the bar, Sebastian coming up behind him and holding him by the waist. Kurt can't move his feet. The text had been sent over ten minutes ago. If Finn was here... he'd seen. He'd probably watched the whole fucking routine.

"Babe! What's wrong? What's going on? Text Dave, we have to get up there." Without waiting on Kurt to snap out of it, Sebastian moves closer to the yelling still taking place.

Kurt swallows back the bile that wants to rise in his throat and squares his shoulders. _If the cat is out the bag, the least I can do is own up to it. Oh god._

As Kurt moves closer he can make out the distinctive tones of Finn and Puck, Sebastian still trying to gauge what's going on.

"-ch bullshit! Look at you guys! You told me you didn't want to make me uncomfortable, but you were just ashamed of **this** weren't you?! What the ever loving hell do you guys think you're doing?! And how the fuck did you drag Kurt into this shit?!"

Puck glares down at Finn, "Hey! I'm not ashamed of shit. We're not doing anything wrong. Neither is Kurt! And if you want to know what's up with him, fucking ask. Maybe if he could trust you not to throw a Berry-Level-Bitch-Fit, he would have already told you! He's been working here six fucking months. What does that say about **you** that he didn't feel okay to tell you about it?!"

Kurt wants to slam himself face first into the bar. _Jesus Christ, Puckerman. Pile on more shit for me to clean up, why don't ya? Fuck._

Finn sputters, finally noticing Kurt standing close by, Sebastian's hand on his waist again. "Kurt! Please explain to me what the fuck is going on here?! Have you been working here six months?! Doing this?! Whoring yourself out for jocks, for what? Attention? What the hell, dude!"

Kurt's eyes are wide as dinner plates, he can feel it. _Is that really what he thinks of me? Is that what he saw up there? Is that how I look to 'normal' people?_

Sebastian tightens his grip on Kurt, snapping out "Shut the fuck up, Hudson. If you don't like something you see here, get the fuck out. But stop causing a scene in my bar."

Finn glares at Sebastian, "Your bar? I thought this was Blaine's bar? Aren't you just the pimp at this point? You probably shouldn't sample your own merchandise. I'm pretty sure that's frowned upon."

Before Puck or Sam can climb over the bar, Dave shows up and grabs Finn, dragging him outside. When Finn goes to take a swing at Dave, the bigger boy turns him around and puts him in a headlock as easily as if Finn were Rachel-sized.

As they disappear into the crowd, Kurt finally snaps out of it, slinking his way through the mass of bodies to reach the door before Dave can hurt Finn too badly. When he gets there it's just in time to see Dave push Finn outside, Finn thankfully keeping his feet. Kurt darts around Dave, following Finn down the sidewalk.

"Finn! I'm sorry! I should have told you what was going on. I dropped out of NYADA. I didn't want to make the same mistakes Rachel did when I felt the same way. I needed a job and Blaine hired me. It's really not as bad as it looks. It was a routine. A performance, like we did in glee."

Finn turns around to face him and Kurt is taken aback by the look of disgust Finn aims at him. "This isn't like glee, Kurt! You're in there shaking your ass for money, making out with guys just for tips, it's gross! You're selling yourself! You all are. What the hell were you thinking?!"

Kurt is in shock, barely managing to keep speaking, "I was thinking, 'Hey, it'd be nice to eat today!' and 'Paying rent sure is nice!' And how is what we were doing any worse than when Sam was stripping in Kentucky or when we used a lot of the same moves during glee numbers. How is this worse than Rocky Horror?"

"Those were assignments, Kurt! We didn't have a choice! We didn't make profit from it! We weren't doing it for money! And Sam was trying to help his family! This is just you guys whoring it up together!"

Kurt snaps, "So it's fine to be a slut, just not a whore. I'm allowed to fuck as many guys as I want, but heaven forbid I dance with friends I've known for years."

Finn flings an arm back toward the door, "Clearly, you're doing both! You think I didn't see Smythe's hand all over your ass? You could at least have the decency to hide the fact that your fucking your boss, Kurt!"

Kurt reels back, unable to believe just how badly this had gone. He'd thought Finn had changed. He'd thought he'd buried his homophobia and ignorance...

"Fuck you, Finn Hudson. I didn't do anything wrong. Yes, I'm fucking around with Sebastian. Is that a crime? I seem to remember someone losing their virginity to a lesbian just because he thought his ex was putting out for someone else! I've slept with a grand total of three people, asshole! I'm **not** a slut, and I'm sure as fuck not a whore. I knew you would be ignorant and judgy about this place, which is why I didn't tell you. Sebastian isn't even my boss! Blaine is! Seb hasn't told me what to do in like four months! I get more direction from Elliot than I do him. Unlike some people, he **trusts** me! If you were half the friend Sebastian was, I might be able to tell you shit!"

Finn still looks pissed, like he wants to say something else, but Kurt just snaps at him. "Don't you say another fucking word to me. I don't know why you came tonight or what the fuck you were thinking when you said that shit to your supposed friends, but I think you've done enough damage. Go home before I find a tire iron."

Kurt waits to make sure Finn leaves before he turns back toward the bar where Dave had kept the door open to keep an eye on him, while also watching over the bar. That's not what stops Kurt. What stops him is Sebastian standing just outside the door. He'd heard everything.

Seb waves at Dave, telling him they'll be fine, get back inside and keep an eye out. After he goes, Sebastian turns back to Kurt, hands tucked in his pockets.

"So... I'm not sure if I should be pissed off or happy." Kurt bites his lip, not commenting. "I'm either one of your best friends or something you play with. Or maybe both. It sounded like both. Not sure how that works though. You either care about someone or you don't, and that sounded an awful lot like I was just a nameless fuck. Granted, I'm apparently one of the lucky few, but it sounds like I was the bottom of that totem pole."

Kurt sighs, "That's not what I meant. Of course I care about you, Sebastian. You **are** one of my best friends. We never talked about what we were to each other, so I just assumed we were friends with benefits or something."

Sebastian stares at him, blinking for a few seconds before saying, "It's you, Kurt." At the confused look on his face, Seb elaborates, "I didn't talk about it because I thought you didn't do casual. I assumed from the minute you pushed me onto your bed that we were dating."

Kurt stutters, "Wai- What? But- we never went out anywhere! You never even really kiss me! We go from basically living together to not seeing each other for days, we don't even text those days! How is that 'dating'?"

Sebastian shrugs, still not really reacting, "I don't know, Kurt. I've never been a boyfriend before. I'm not sure what the rules are. I was pretty much just going with what you did and sometimes I'd take a shot in the dark and hope I didn't overstep. Like with the hoodie, you looked cold but I didn't know if you would want to borrow something or not. And the drawer. When you started putting my stuff in the trunk, I cleaned a drawer out for you. We don't go out because honestly, we work in a **bar**. Our 'dates', for lack of a better term, were either really late at night or during the day. What were we going to do? Rollerblading? Hiking? Pass."

Kurt still can't process this. "But- What?!"

Sebastian finally breaks his mask a little, taking his hands out of his pockets and rubbing them over his face. "I thought if you wanted to kiss me, you'd kiss me. You have no problem doing it at work, so I thought maybe that was just something weird with you, that you associated it with work? And the days we're apart I know that you're working on the clothes, it's why I spend so much time away, so you can focus and not have to worry about keeping me busy or entertained. I don't text you or call you because I never know when you're busy or not, you never text me either."

Kurt needs to sit down, he really does. The last half hour had taken a huge toll on him.

Seb watches Kurt carefully before saying, "Hey, it's cool. Whatever. So we aren't dating, I get it. I need a break for a bit after all this shit anyway. You should go home for the night. I'll have Puck or Sam bring your share of the tips by tomorrow. And your stuff if you don't want to go get it. I'm... I'm gonna go back in. I'll talk to you tomorrow or something."

Kurt watches Sebastian walk away, trying to pluck up the courage to yell for him to come back or run after him, anything. Instead he just watches him walk away, already regretting it, but not able to make his feet move.

* * *

The next day, when Kurt wakes up, he keeps his eyes clenched for a few minutes, trying to pretend that last night didn't happen. He pretends that when he opens his eyes, it'll be Saturday and Finn will still be the brother he'd thought he had, and Sebastian will grab his ass when he walks into work, kissing his neck when no one is looking.

When too much time has passed, Kurt opens his eyes and glares at his ceiling before hauling himself up. _Enough. Pretending is exactly what got you into this mess. It's time to own up to shit and move on. Pick up the pieces._

Kurt grabs his phone, texting Puck, thinking him the most likely ally. After asking him to please bring anything he left at the bar to his place, Kurt sends off another text to Blaine asking if he can pass the word out, in a few hours, that he quit.

Puck responds quickly with 'Sure, np!' but Blaine just calls him. Dreading the conversation, Kurt picks up the phone and does his best to explain without losing his friendships.

Half an hour later he finally crawls out of bed, relieved that Blaine, at least, had understood. He'd said he would pass the message around so that hopefully Kurt wouldn't have to explain it as much.

The extent of the fallout amounts to texts from everyone but Puck and Sebastian telling him that they'd miss him and good luck with finding a new job. Sam's had also included that Finn was an idiot and to ignore him, he'd get over himself eventually. Puck had obviously not texted because he was actually on his way over, and Sebastian... was also obvious. _Not much to say, is there?_

When he hears a pounding on his door, Kurt opens it to find a confused Puck wearing the jacket Kurt had made him, even if it was actually a little too warm for it.

"Hey, Princess. Here's your shit. I hope I didn't miss anything, I didn't know you were like 'gone' gone when I grabbed everything or I'd have looked more carefully."

Kurt smiles, taking the bag he'd shoved everything into. "No problem, Noah. It's not like I'm moving away, I just won't be 'whoring myself' anymore." Kurt smiles at Puck so he knows he doesn't actually think of it that way, even though he's starting to doubt himself. Maybe he **had** been doing it for the wrong reasons. He was having a lot of fun...

After Puck leaves, Kurt looks up more jobs online, now with a new skill set. Sure enough he finds a small list of bartending positions open. Kurt smiles sadly and goes to pick up his phone.

 _It was just a bar, right? There are plenty of bars in New York._

* * *

Less than a month later, Kurt catches a taxi across town. He'd hoped he could get out of going today, but he's not really surprised that Burt had pulled rank and forced him.

Burt didn't know the whole story about the rift between Kurt and Finn, only that it had caused Kurt to quit his job, which he'd actually seemed to like, and had somehow also broken up his... whatever with Sebastian.

As fucked up as the situation was, it didn't seem like a good enough reason to miss your brother's wedding.

Kurt sits at the reception folding and re-folding his napkin over and over, wishing he'd just stayed home. He'd avoided Finn, and had only spoken briefly to Rachel. Puck and Sam had kept their distance after hugging him hello, because like it or not, it was Finn's wedding, and Kurt had no business stirring shit up. It just made him sad to remember their parents' wedding and how accepting Finn had been.

So Kurt sat quietly, counting the minutes until he could go home. He's interrupted by a surprisingly chipper voice as Blaine bounces over and sits in the chair beside Kurt.

"Hey! How have you been! I feel like I haven't seen you in forever!"

Kurt smiles as much as he can, "Hey, Blaine. I'm good. It has been awhile... what have you been up to?"

What follows is 20 minutes on NYADA and how well he's doing there, which Kurt tunes out after maybe three minutes. He's mentally judging the shoes of all the women at the next table when he hears the last half of what Blaine is saying.

"-n't believe it's been almost two years since he came up with it. It seemed like such a weird idea at first but it seems to have worked. I'm happy for him. He should have it payed off in another three or four years, which is actually much better than we thought."

Kurt is getting more and more confused about what Blaine is talking about. He'd thought he'd heard something about Sebastian...

"I'm sorry, I spaced out, do what?"

Blaine laughs, "Oh! I was just saying that Sebastian should have the bar paid off in a few more years. Not that I need the money, I'm still in school. But he's really serious about paying it all back as soon as possible. I guess he's trying to prove them wrong. Can't say as I blame him."

Kurt has to take slow, deep breaths to keep himself from grabbing Blaine and torturing him for information. He has to play it off like he has any idea what he's talking about or he'll clam up. Blaine may be a shitty boyfriend but he was a great friend. He'd never be talking about this if he didn't think Kurt already knew.

"Yeah, I was surprised when I found out the whole story. If you remember, you told me that the bar was your idea, that you had always wanted one. Didn't make much sense at the time." Kurt laughs like he's surprised at his own idiocy.

Giggling, Blaine says, "Right?! I can't believe anyone bought that. I don't think I've stepped into that place once since Puck and Sam started there. Well, maybe, but just to get drunk and enjoy the show. Honestly, I offered to put it in his name from the beginning. Even if it goes up, I'm not out that much, and it means so much to him. But he said he wanted to earn it, which I guess I understand."

Kurt nods like he has any idea what that means. He guesses, "Sure, especially if he wants to prove them wrong."

Blaine nods, looking sad. "Yeah. I still can't believe anyone would be so callous. Who says shit like that to a kid? So what if he didn't want to be a lawyer. You'd think after they'd accepted the gay thing, the law thing would be minor. But nope. Apparently there **can** be deal-breakers with parents. I'll take my confused, slightly weirded out parents over total assholes any day."

Kurt just smiles, trying to hide that his heart is breaking for Sebastian. "I'd never appreciated my dad more than I did when I heard about that." _Which is just now. Where is Dad? I need to hug him..._

Kurt decides to just roll the dice and see if Blaine has had enough champagne to loosen his tongue a bit. "I don't suppose you'd tell me what the name of the place actually means would you? Seb told me some total bullshit but I'd really like to know what inspired it."

Blaine smiles and nods, "I know, right? It's so interesting. He told me some crap about beer-goggles and how when you're loaded, you think the person beside you is just so hot, only to wake up the next day feeling like Little Red Riding Hood."

"But that's not what you think it actually means?" Kurt twists his fingers in his lap, wondering if he should really be asking these questions.

Blaine shakes his head, whispering, "Nope. Once, it was really late and we were talking about it and he said something about how most people see him as this predator without ever trying to look past it or get to know the real him. Or something."

Worried that he had long since overstepped, Kurt decides to ask one more thing, just for curiosity, "Okay. So... tell me the truth. Why the cheesy costumes? Fireman, cop, construction worker..."

Blaine laughs, "Oh god! I know! I tried to tell him it wasn't a strip club from the 90's but he wouldn't listen to me! He was so convinced that there had to be themes or something. It was weird. I heard from Puck and Sam that you got him to let you use regular clothes sometimes, that's awesome! No idea how you got him to do that though. He was **so** set on them."

Kurt really needs to get out of there. He'd stayed for the ceremony and he's pretty sure they've cut the cake so he gets up, saying goodbye to Blaine and searching for his dad. When he finally finds him, he walks up to him and hugs him, without saying a word.

Eventually Burt looks around, trying to find some explanation. Instead he gets a kiss on the cheek as Kurt whispers, "Thank you for being the best dad in the world."

Burt blinks. "You're welcome? Are you drunk?"

Laughing, Kurt shakes his head. Before he can tell the older man that he's going home, they're interrupted by Finn and Rachel.

Rachel squeals, bouncing in place. "This is such a great day! I'm so glad it went well, I was worried about so many little things going wrong, you just hear so many horror stories! But it all seemed to work out."

Kurt refuses to look up at Finn, focusing firmly to the south of him, on Rachel. "Congratulations, sweetie. I'm so glad today was everything you wanted it to be. You look lovely."

Kurt is just far enough away that he doesn't hear what Finn mutters under his breath, but Burt hears it. Kurt sighs as Burt turns to Finn, glaring. "This might be your wedding, but that's still my son. If you have a problem with his last job, keep it to yourself."

Finn sputters, turning to Burt with wide eyes. "You knew about it?!"

Kurt scoffs. "Of course he knew about it. I told him over Thanksgiving while you were with the Berrys." At Finn's wide, gaping mouth, Kurt turns back to Burt. "Okay, I kept up my end of the bargain. I came for Rachel, and I really am happy for her, since for some reason this is what she wants. Personally, I'm confused as to why she didn't get the six foot tall wart removed, but it's not my place to judge." Turning back to Rachel he gives her a quick hug, "Good luck, hun. You're gonna need it."

Giving his dad one more quick hug and telling him to say bye to Carole for him, Kurt strolls out the door. He still needs to process what he learned about Sebastian.

 _Why didn't he tell me?_

* * *

When Kurt gets home, he flops back on his bed feeling depressed. He hadn't heard from Sebastian since the night he'd left the Wolves' Deception. _I can't believe how badly I've fucked my whole life up. In one fell swoop I lost my job, my brother, and my... Sebastian. Not really sure yet what exactly my Sebastian is, other than_ _ **mine**_ _. Now I just have to get him to accept it._

Kurt sighs, pulling out his phone. He panics for a second when he remembers he turned it off during the reception. _Well shit. I forgot to turn it back on. Lucky my dance card has been pretty empty lately._

When the message pops up with two voicemails, left less than an hour ago, Kurt groans. _I'm sure they're about the wedding. Jeez._

As the first message starts though, Kurt sits up suddenly, listening to Sebastian's voice.

"Hey. So... I just realized that maybe you were waiting on me to contact you for some reason... not really sure why, but our relationship has been nothing but confusing from the beginning so I figured it couldn't hurt just to make sure. I miss you. I guess I understand why you quit... well not really, but I blame Finn, not you, so it's fine. Just um... call me back, when you get a chance. I miss your... everything."

As Kurt listens to the beep he's already deciding what to say when he calls back but he tries to focus when he hears Carole's voice.

"Kurt, honey. I don't want you to worry, it's probably not serious, but your dad is in the hospital. After you left the wedding they called out for dancing and I guess his heart wasn't having it today. We're at Mt. Sinai, and he's being looked at already, just come as soon as you get this. Be careful getting here, honey. It seems like one of those days."

Kurt's heart slams into his throat and he gets up grabbing his bag and heading right back out the door.


	6. Chapter 6

As Kurt sits in his room staring at his phone he has to wonder what he's doing. The heart attack had been minor, a concern, but no where near what it was last time. The doctor had assured Burt that the reason for that was probably his better diet and the exercise Carole forced him to do.

Burt started muttering about conspiracies and how this was all a trick to make him eat cardboard and do crunches.

Finn had come to the hospital, Rachel still wearing her poofed out princess wedding dress. Over the next two days he'd mostly made up with Finn. He'd seemed more confused than disgusted, so maybe the homophobia had been Kurt projecting or something... or maybe Finn was just hiding it better now. Whatever worked, honestly.

Finn had decided to go back to Ohio for a few weeks. Once Rachel got her last credits in, she would graduate and be able to move back for a few months at least. Broadway would still be there and it wasn't like she had a job waiting.

Kurt was relieved. He'd considered moving back. It was his worst nightmare but it's not like he had much to stay for at this point. When Finn had agreed to move back and help run the shop and keep an eye on Burt, Kurt had been thankful. Not only for Finn, but Rachel. Annoying, persistent, **vegan** Rachel. If anyone could torture Burt Hummel into good health, it was Rachel Berry.

Now he just had two more choices to make. One was too terrifying to even think about so he focused on the other. Which is what's causing him to sit on his bed, staring at his phone.

It had been almost a week since Sebastian had left the message. Kurt had been too wrapped up in his dad and too unsure of what to say to respond. Now he's worried that it's been to late and he can't convince himself to call.

Eventually, Kurt gives up, flopping back on the bed. _I can't call him._

Checking the time, Kurt sees that it's actually just past 11am. He decides to let fate work a little. In the whole time he'd worked at the Wolves' Deception, Sebastian had never once come in late unless it was because Kurt wouldn't let him out of bed.

Kurt pops up, pocketing his phone and grabbing his keys.

As Kurt stops for breath outside Sebastian's apartment building he checks his phone. 11:34am. Sebastian usually doesn't leave for another ten minutes. Leaning against the wall, Kurt pulls his phone out, listening to the message again, just to hear his voice. He's listening for the third time when he notices a girl standing nearby checking her phone obsessively and glaring at the doors, like she's willing them to open.

More out of boredom than concern, Kurt calls out. "Hey, do you need help or something?"

The girl turns to him, sighing. "Not unless you can make my friend come out of there any faster. He was supposed to be out a few minutes ago. His boyfriend has to leave soon too, so I really don't get how they could be this irresponsible."

Kurt laughs, "Well, if he's in there with his boyfriend maybe they're trying to work in a quickie?"

She giggles a little, "They are a really new couple, hopefully he isn't putting out yet, but who knows? Considering where they work, it wouldn't be that big of an assumption."

Kurt tries to ignore the alarm bells going off in his head. "Oh, really? Where do they work?" He tries to make his voice casual like he's just curious. He feels like he might throw up.

"Some bar. Wolf something? The one where they dance on the bar and make out with each other. Sounds hot but I've never been. My friend swears that neither of them dance on the bar, but I don't believe him. Maybe the boyfriend doesn't, but my friend? I've seen him at clubs, and he'd totally grind it on a bar."

Kurt nods, "Yeah. It sounds like the kind of place where almost everyone dances... I have to go, it was nice meeting you."

"Oh, sure. You too. I'm gonna go see what's keeping them. At this point it pretty much has to be sex. I'm going to kill him." The girl laughs as she walks away and Kurt feels his stomach roll.

Kurt quickly moves around the corner at least. The last thing he needs is to see them coming out. He doesn't want to meet his replacement.

* * *

When he finally manages to stumble back into his apartment he sits heavily on the floor, barely remembering to shut the door. It was over. Just that quick, that easy, he'd been replaced. They'd already found a new 'wolf' and Sebastian was already sleeping with him.

 _That has to be a record. How exactly does one go from missing a guy to working in quickies before work?_

Deciding that he'd rather think about almost anything else, Kurt gets up and walks slowly to the computer. Maybe facebook or something can distract him.

As the screen flicks back on it shows the last thing he'd been looking up. The second choice. The 'scary' choice. Kurt almost feels like laughing. Had he really thought this was the harder thing to face? What an idiot. Clicking the 'Apply Now!' button, Kurt smiles to himself.

 _After the day I've had, bring on the rejection. This can't even touch it._

* * *

Kurt comes in from work one day about a week later and checks his email first thing. At this point he doesn't care if it's acceptance or rejection, he just wants it over with so he can move on. Well, that's what he tells himself.

It's not until he sees the email sitting in his inbox that Kurt admits to himself how badly he wants this. It could literally change his life. Everything he's never admitted he always wanted. _Well, not_ _ **everything**_ _._

Shaking his head, Kurt clicks the mouse, waiting impatiently for it to load. When it does he's frozen, unable to move or breath as he reads the email. He got in.

He actually did it. Reading through it again to make sure he hadn't read it wrong, Kurt start laughing hysterically. _No way! Oh my god! I have to tell-_

Stopping abruptly, Kurt can feel his smile slipping. _Well, fuck. I couldn't have picked a worse time to realize I love him, could I?_

Sighing at himself, Kurt grins at the email one more time before getting up and wandering into his sewing room. What better way to celebrate than to make himself a new shirt to wear on the first day of classes?

* * *

Kurt is so excited he's all but vibrating out of his shoes. He starts his first class in less than a month! It had only been a couple weeks since his acceptance, but he'd already talked to the faculty, and was trying to use as many of the credits from NYADA as he could. At least he wouldn't have to start over. It should only take him a couple years to graduate and he'd mostly get to focus on the classes he **wants** to take.

Kurt is smiling widely down at the glass he's cleaning when he hears someone come in. He's actually fairly surprised to get a customer. It's technically a bar but it's treated more as a deli during the day. The few people that come in take their food to go. So when he hears someone come in and sit on a stool behind him, Kurt turns, laughing.

"Hi! We don't usually-" The words disappear from his mouth like they'd been pulled out with pliers. It takes him a long while to speak but eventually he manages a weak, "S-Sebastian. What are you doing here?"

Seb just grins a little, shrugging. "I heard you guys make a good sandwich?" When Kurt can't do more than blink, Sebastian sighs, "Puck told me you got a new job. Thought I'd come check it out."

Kurt nods, and if it's slightly robotic-looking, shut up. At least he's moving now. "Um... yeah. Sorry. I started working here shortly before the um. Wedding." At the reminder of the longest night he's had in a long time, Kurt coughs. "Sorry I didn't call you back that night. My dad had a heart attack and I got the two messages together."

Sebastian nods, but looks sad all the sudden. When Kurt raises an eyebrow Seb explains, "Puck told me about your dad, I'm glad he's doing okay now. And... I'd kind of hoped you didn't get the message."

Kurt glares at him. _Really? It's like_ _ **that**_ _, huh? Whatever. I'm so fucking done with this._

"Well, sorry. Be more careful with what you want to say then. I was going to call you, then I got wrapped up in Dad's care and helping Finn organize moving back to Ohio, then by the time I was able to resume my life, it was too late."

Sebastian frowns, "Too late?"

Kurt finally puts the glass down, afraid that he'll throw it at Sebastian's head. "Yeah, too late. I heard you've got a new wolf already, so I just went home."

Sebastian gapes, "I have a what? I haven't found a new dancer if that's what you mean."

Kurt scoffs. "Then who was the chick hanging around outside your apartment? She said she was waiting on her friend to come out and he was late."

"Oh! You mean Elliot's friend? Yeah. She came banging on the door a few weeks ago, scared the crap out of me. But at least she liberated me from my room. I couldn't hide in there much longer without suffocating or something. Pillows are good for muffling sound but not for breathing. Elliot is a bit... excitable."

Stopping to breath takes longer than it should, but it's that or climb over the bar to punch him in the face. "Elliot. Elliot Gilbert. That's who the girl was waiting on?" When Sebastian nods, seemingly slightly confused but not at all sorry, Kurt explodes. "So now you're fucking Elliot?! Are you kidding me right now?!"

Sebastian almost falls off the stool waving his arms, "No! Jesus! No no no! I'm not fucking Elliot! Dave is! Ugh! Actually, god, don't remind me. I'm suddenly very sorry for my roommate back at Dalton, that guy had to **hate** me."

Kurt just sits on the stool he keeps behind the bar, emotionally and physically drained. "Dave is? **What?** "

Sebastian watches Kurt warily, "Yeah. And he's quite the screamer. I've been all but stuffing my pillows in my ears. Apparently we were too wrapped up in each other to notice anything else. And, well, you didn't know **we** were dating, not much hope of you figuring it out with someone else."

Kurt huffs, "Hey! It's not just my fault! You didn't-" Kurt cuts himself off, realizing how stupid he is. Not even thinking it through the tiniest amount, Kurt jumps the counter, sliding across the bar a couple feet and catching himself with Sebastian's face.

Sebastian just looks dumbfounded, not even kissing back, just clutching at the tops of Kurt's arms. Eventually Kurt grabs the sides of Seb's face and leans back, trying to regain his breath.

"Sebastian, I'm an idiot. I love you. Please kiss me back!" Not giving him a chance to answer him, Kurt moves in again, sliding closer to the edge of the bar and leaning down more, wrapping his arms around Sebastian's neck as he kisses him again.

Sebastian finally clues in and reaches up to grab Kurt by the hips, lifting him down off the bar so he's sitting in his lap, pressed close between the bar and Seb's chest. After several long minutes of kissing, Kurt breaks away.

"I'm sorry! I got your message and I was going to call you, then I got busy and I chickened out. I went to wait for you outside your apartment and the girl was talking about these guys that were dating, how it was new and how they worked at the wolf bar. All I could picture was you, upstairs, fucking some new guy while I waited outside for you to finish. It didn't occur to me that David had started dating someone from the bar. Even if there was a new guy, he would never have moved that quickly. In fact, remind me later to smack every friend I have that works at that fucking bar for not telling me that him and Elliot are together. What the hell?!"

Sebastian gives him a blank stare for about 15 seconds before a slow smirk appears. "You know I have no fucking clue what you just said right? Your voice went so high on part of your rant that I'm surprised the glasses didn't shatter. But yeah, I'll definitely remind you to hit them, especially if, on top of everything else I've had to endure, their fucking kept us from getting back together."

Kurt nods, moving back in to kiss Sebastian again. "It did. It broke my fucking heart, thinking of you moving on already. You wouldn't believe the crazy shit I was thinking of after that."

Seb cocks an eyebrow, tightening his grip on Kurt's waist. "Like what, Elsa? If you tell me you hooked up with some random dude, I'm going to cry. And then beat Dave with a bat."

Giggling, Kurt tangles his fingers in the back of Sebastian's hair. "No, I thought about moving back to Ohio. And I also- shit! I'm so bad at the boyfriend thing. Maybe Blaine wasn't the problem." At Sebastian's raised eyebrow, Kurt blurts out, "I got into Parsons!"

Sebastian almost drops him in shock, "What?! That's awesome! Babe, that's amazing, I didn't even know you applied!"

"The day I found out about your 'boyfriend', I went home and applied. At that point it was like, fuck it. I'm already miserable, let's go for the hat trick." Kurt starts kissing and sucking down Sebastian's neck, ignoring that he's at work, it's the middle of the day, and he hadn't **actually** made up with Sebastian yet. Formalities.

Seb laughs, grabbing Kurt's face and kissing him again before wrapping his arms around him as tight as he could and squeezing. "God! That's so awesome babe! Jesus. You're so amazing. I love you so much."

Kurt suddenly pinches his side, pouting. "Then why the hell didn't you tell me that the bar is yours?"

Seb groans. "Damn him and his hair gel." Kurt just cocks an eyebrow, wrapping his legs around Sebastian, still sitting on the stool. "Because it's not. My parents kicked me out after high school and cut me off when I told them I had no plans to go to college. They assumed I'd go to law school like my father and about the only thing I want to do less than become a lawyer is sell children on the black market. So I left. I got really drunk one night when I was staying with Blaine and started talking about this bar I wanted to open one day. He decided he'd loan me the money if I wanted to open it now. Six months later I was unloading beer into the storage room."

"Oh, no. Sebby, you forgot to tell me about the best part!" Laughing at Sebastian's confusion, Kurt says, "The part where you decided what the themes for the costumes would be. And how adamant you were that they not change. I think I need to hear more about that."

Sebastian groans again, dropping his head down to hide his face in Kurt's chest. "God damn it, Blaine. You couldn't just take the bullet?" Growling at Kurt's giggles, Sebastian asks, "So, when do you get off work? Because I haven't seen you naked in over a month, and that needs to happen."

Kurt bites his lip, "In about 20 minutes, when I call my boss and tell her that I had to close early because I feel like I'm coming down with something. It feels like it could be that three day virus my neighbor had. She can come back in and reopen in about an hour, there's never anyone here right now."

Sebastian bites Kurt's ear, hand sliding down his back to grab his ass. "Perfect. Do that."

Whimpering, Kurt asks, "So, your place or mine?"

"Yours. Definitely yours. I may never leave your apartment again. Dave and Elliot are giving me a complex."

Kurt grins back evilly, "Aww, come on, Sebby. If we stay at mine, how do we pay them back? I'm sure I can get louder than Elliot."

Sebastian shudders. "I wouldn't be so sure, you haven't heard the shit I've heard."

Looking like Christmas had come early, Kurt bounces out of his lap to grab his phone. "Oh! I can't wait! This is gonna be fun!"

* * *

[Five Years Later]

Kurt leans back against the counter, looking out over the bar. It seems like so long ago now, that first night he'd fought his way through the crowd to find the smirky asshole he'd hoped to never see again. Now he's pretty sure he'll never be rid of the bastard. At least he hopes not.

He's pulled out of his thoughts by a sudden yell from the door. Kurt looks over and watches as Finn tries to convince Dave to let him in.

"Some grudges can just never be forgotten." Kurt turns to grin at the amused drawl.

"Right? They've never really gotten along. Something about the fifth grade? Maybe you should ask him about that later."

Elliot laughs, putting an arm around Kurt's waist as they watch the drama unfold across the room. "Think we should offer to help or...?"

With a shrug, Kurt says, "Nah. I think they got it."

Their peace and quiet is interrupted a few minutes later when Sam walks over on the bartop, leaning down to announce, "Kurt! Your dad is here."

Huffing, Kurt admits defeat and heads toward the door to save Finn and help shuffle Burt and Carole to the front of the room. He gets close enough to the door just in time to hear Finn scream out,

"Oh my god dude! This better not be about the pubes! Get over it!"

Kurt giggles before yelling out, "Yeah! I'm pretty sure he still finds pubic hair funny, it's not his fault his mind hasn't developed as much as your body, David!"

Finn turns to him with relief, "Kurt! Thank god! Tell Karofsky to back off! You told me to come!"

Taking pity on the overgrown toddler, Kurt turns to Dave and kisses him on the cheek. "Thanks sweetie, but he's right, I did ask him to come. It's my party and I'll cry if I want to, and all that."

Dave glares at Finn before finally relenting. "Fine! He can come in, but he says one damned word and I'm tossing him out again."

Kurt ignores the posturing and turns to his dad, "Hey! I'm so glad you could make it! We've kept the area near the front mostly cleared out."

As he leads the group for four confused, straight members of his family inside, he wonders how they will all actually handle the night to come. He hadn't put much thought into it, only finding out about the celebration a few hours ago. When he gets close enough he hops back over the bar, heading for the nearby station. "Okay, guys, call out your drinks!"

Two hours later Kurt finds himself dancing in a clump with Finn, Rachel, Puck and three of his models. The banner over the bar had clearly been paid for by Blaine who no one was sad to hear couldn't make it that night.

He's just considering going to the jukebox to pick out some better music when arms wrap around him from behind and someone kisses his neck. Without turning around, Kurt giggles and whispers, "Stop it, Noah! Sebastian will catch us!"

He turns in time to see Rachel's horrified face turn into confusion as Finn and Puck laugh at her. Sebastian laughs in his ear.

"That was **mean** , babe. You totally had her convinced." Kurt smirks at Rachel's admonishing glare before turning in Seb's arms to kiss him.

"Where did you run off to? I haven't seen you in like 20 minutes."

Sebastian laughs, leaning away from Kurt a little to see his reaction, "Actually, I was yelling at the new guy. He got a case of the butterfingers and broke a bottle. One of the more expensive ones. Worth almost $300, new."

Kurt giggles, "Oh no! Did he decide how he was going to pay it back?" The first time Sebastian had used their bitch-fight as a test on a new wolf, Kurt had been horrified, but it had sadly become common practice now. The guys had done lots of creative things over the years, but no one had ever topped Kurt's.

Smirk firmly in place, Seb rubs his thumb on Kurt's hip before shrugging. "Nope. He has no clue. Look at him over there, freaking out. Poor bastard. He's never going to survive Puck if he doesn't man up."

Kurt silently agrees, but he decides not to mention it. The poor kid doesn't need to know how much he's being scrutinized. Struck with a sudden idea as Kurt watches his group of friends and family dance together, he turns to Sebastian and grins.

"How much do you love me?"

Sebastian stops to consider that before answering, "Enough to know that I'm very, very worried when you have to ask that question. Why?"

Kurt kisses him before climbing back over the bar, calling behind him, "Trust me! This is going to be amazing!" Kurt runs up to Puck and Sam, calling for them to lean closer. After he explains his plan, he grabs the mic and hops up on the middle of the bartop, looking over the crowd.

He waits until he sees Puck and Sam make their way down toward where Sebastian is still watching him with a more worried than usual look on his face.

Kurt just smirks before turning on the mic.

"Okay, guys. Once, a long time ago, I tricked a friend of mine into crawling up here and doing a striptease for everyone. I had no idea that that's what I was doing, and I regretted it firmly as soon as his pants came off. In true Wolves' tradition, it's time for me to do it again! This time probably with considerably more regret!"

As Kurt finishes his speech, he comes to the end of the bar smiling down at Sebastian who looks beyond words. He'd thought he'd seen all of Seb's pissed off looks but he was wrong. This one clearly said, 'You're dead to me'.

Kurt just grins at him before switching his gaze to Finn, who had been boxed in by Puck and Sam while he'd been too busy laughing at Sebastian to escape. Over the years since he and Finn had reconciled the one event that Finn had never let Sebastian forget was the day Kurt tricked him into stripping. Kurt covers the mic and leans down a little, yelling out where Finn can hear him, "It's payback time, big brother. Get up here!"

Sebastian helps Puck and Sam manhandle Finn up onto the bartop, Sam quickly hopping over and running to the other end so Finn can't climb down that way. Kurt and Sebastian take their end and Puck moves to stand with Elliot in the middle.

Finn had just turned to glare at Kurt in betrayal before the song starts up, courtesy of Dave at the jukebox. When Finn recognizes the opening, heavy beat of 'Pony', he turns wide eyes to Kurt, who uses the mic one last time to call out, "Come on guys! Give it up for my big brother, his first time on the bar!"

When Kurt hops down and leans against Sebastian, he hears chuckles in his ear. Kurt nods at Sam, who hops back up on the bar and starts to move and grind, giving Finn something to copy.

Quickly deciding that he really can't watch, Kurt turns to face Sebastian as the song plays. He hears cheers and laughter, a great deal of it coming from Finn himself. As the song winds down he kisses along Sebastian's jaw and bites him lightly on his ear before turning around.

Finn had thankfully kept his pants on, as had Sam and eventually Puck, who had also climbed up on the bar to dance. Kurt giggles, leaning back against Seb. "I guess you found a new guy after all. Finn will be so excited!"

When the next song starts up, none of the guys jump down, and Finn seems to get more comfortable up there, trying to coax Rachel up. A losing battle if Kurt has ever seen one. Most of the models from Kurt's show end up on the bar though, draped around Puck, Finn, and Sam.

Sebastian wraps his arms tighter around Kurt, whispering in his ear, "Congratulations, baby. I always knew you'd make it to fashion week. I can't believe you doubted it."

Kurt giggles, hugging the arms around him. "You were the only one who even thought about it, hun. Thank you so much for pushing me."

Sebastian considers pulling the ring out of his pocket now, instead of over a late dinner tonight like he'd planned. Just as he decides to throw out the carefully planned meal, Finn grabs the mic Kurt had set down. "Speaking of traditions, get your asses up here, guys!"

Kurt grins over his shoulder at Sebastian, quickly climbing up before reaching down for his boyfriend's hand.

There are still days that Kurt misses the bar and all the fun he'd had, but not near as much as he used to. He sure as hell wasn't going to waste an opportunity to dance with Sebastian up there, though.

As they wrap arms around each other in a line, waiting for the next song, Kurt can't help but bounce in place. He was in love, his family was finally happy and healthy, his job was amazing, and he was surrounded by his friends. Nothing could ruin his night.

And then the music started.

'Teenage Dream' by Katy Perry.

 _Fuck._

* * *

 **Thanks for reading!**


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